Great Works of English Literature: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Welche Bücher haben die englischsprachige Literatur geprägt? Die Rubrik „Great Works of English Literature“ stellt einige der bekanntesten Werke vor. In diesem Monat heißt es – passend zu William Shakespeares Geburts- (und wahrscheinlich auch Sterbe-)Monat – „Sein oder Nichtsein“. Die aktuelle Ausgabe der Read On setzt sich genauer mit Hamlet, der bekannten Tragödie des englischen Dramatikers, auseinander. Einen Auszug aus dem Artikel lesen Sie hier.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
With his masterpiece, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare shows us how well he understood the human psyche.
By John Bilstein
1 “To be, or not to be, that is the question …” Pretty much everyone knows these troubling lines calling into doubt the meaning of life itself. They are taken from a soliloquy by Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, a character made famous by William Shakespeare (1564–1616), possibly the world’s greatest playwright ever.
2 The first of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies (Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth are the others), Hamlet came out around 1600 and tells the story of a prince who believes his father, the king of Denmark, has been murdered by his own brother, Claudius. Soon after his father’s death, Claudius marries Prince Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, and ascends the Danish throne.
3 At first, nobody even thinks a crime has been committed. But then old Hamlet’s ghost appears to soldiers on their night watch. Young Hamlet’s friend Horatio asks the prince to join their next watch, to see whether the ghost will speak with him.
4 It does. In a spooky midnight scene, old Hamlet’s spirit rises and asks his son to avenge a “murder most foul”. Hamlet promises to kill his uncle Claudius for his wicked deed. The prince then pretends to be mad to help put his plan into action.
5 However, it is hard to tell whether Hamlet is really just pretending to be mad or if he has actually developed depression and mental blocks due to his grief.
6 This much we do know, however: as a studious man of thought rather than a knuckleheaded man of action, Hamlet wants more evidence that the ghost was telling the truth.
7 When a troupe of travelling actors visits the castle, Hamlet sees his chance. He asks them to act out a scene showing the poisoning of a king.
8 Claudius’s strong reaction to this “play within a play” leaves young Hamlet in no doubt that his uncle has indeed murdered the former king, his father.
9 What follows is an action-packed tour de force about intrigue, revenge, madness and thwarted love, with a deadly ending for almost everyone involved.
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Den vollständigen Artikel lesen Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On.
Vocabulary
0–1 masterpiece Meisterwerk — tragedy Tragödie — “To be, or not to be, that is the question” „Sein oder Nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage“ — pretty much (coll) so ziemlich — troubling beunruhigend — to call s.th. into doubt etw. in Zweifel ziehen — meaning Sinn — soliloquy Monolog — playwright Dramatiker(in)
2–3 to ascend the throne den Thron besteigen — to commit a crime ein Verbrechen begehen — night watch Nachtwache — spooky (coll) schaurig
4 spirit Geist — to avenge s.th. etw. rächen — foul schändlich — wicked niederträchtig — to pretend to be s.th. vorgeben, etw. zu sein — mad verrückt — deed Tat — to put one’s plan into action seinen Plan in die Tat umsetzen
5 to be hard to tell schwer zu sagen sein — mental block geistige Blockade — grief Trauer
6–7 studious wissbegierig — man of thought Denker — knuckleheaded (coll) schwachköpfig — man of action Mann der Tat — evidence Beweise — troupe of travelling actors Truppe fahrender Schauspieler(innen) — to act s.th. out etw. aufführen — poisoning Vergiften
8–9 action-packed actiongeladen — tour de force Meisterstück — intrigue Intrige(n) — revenge Rache — madness Wahnsinn — thwarted vereitelt; enttäuscht
Foto: Pixabay/u_322iklt6h0
