Shakespeare's works: list. William Shakespeare: creativity

His plays are filled with a secret meaning only for us - for his contemporaries these were obvious things, and now the popular "Shakespeare Code" (the book of the same name by John Underwood and the second episode of the third season of Doctor Who) is just a marketing ploy on the wave of demand for detective stories. la Dan Brown. Fans of such riddles, including about who actually was the author of the famous plays, can recommend a more serious study of the Russian literary critic and Shakespearean IM Gililov "The Game about William Shakespeare" (1997), whose theory has many supporters , and critics both in Russia and abroad (the book has been translated, in particular, into English).

Well, the "Shakespeare's Cipher" hidden from us on the example of the play "Macbeth" is perfectly revealed by the theater expert and theater critic, editor-in-chief of the "Theater" magazine, art director of the NET festival and program director of the largest theater festival Wiener Festwoche in 2016 Marina Davydova

In more detail about "For whom was Hamlet written?"

theater critic, Doctor of Arts, Professor of the Russian Academy of Theater Arts, member of the Executive Committee of the International Shakespeare Association, Chairman of the Shakespeare Commission of the Scientific Council for the History of World Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Bartoshevich postnauka.ru

The lecture lasts a little over an hour, so I will summarize, incl. from his other articles: Shakespeare himself did not encrypt anything and did not secretly write, but composed in a completely accessible language for his audience, not caring either about the safety of his plays, or even about their publication. On the contrary, he even opposed them - "Hamlet" was released clandestinely, without his knowledge, and he himself decided to print them only after the London plague, when all the theaters were closed and the actors were in distress.

In particular, Bartoshevich, in an interview with the Krasnoyarsk theater critic Elena Konovalova, says: “It is absolutely wrong to imagine Shakespeare as some genius abandoned in the dark era who sits in an office and writes masterpieces for posterity. He wrote exclusively for his contemporaries who came to see him at the Globe Theater in London. And he did not see the existence of his plays outside the theater of his day. Perhaps, as the author of sonnets, he also hoped to remain in the memory of people. But not as the author of Hamlet, Othello or King Lear. He was not thinking about you and me. He thought about the fees, which depended on the then public. Shakespeare was a theater man of his day.<...>

We, of course, do not know what Shakespeare's contemporaries understood in his plays, we can only speculate. Yes, the audience was uncouth. Yes, it was for this primitive, naive, stupid and funny, from our point of view, public that he wrote. But at the same time, she was beautiful, because, brought up in the church, she possessed a quality that every public should have - divine naivety. That is, sincere faith in what is happening on stage and the ability to listen. We do not know how to listen, we live in a super-visualized world, in the world of pictures. "

The heyday of English drama began in the late 1580s, when a galaxy of writers, now called "university minds", appeared: Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), Thomas Kid (1558-1594), Robert Green (c. 1560-1592), John Lily (c. 1554-1606) and several others. Milestones marking the beginning of this heyday were two tragedies - "Tamerlane the Great" (1587) by K. Marlo and "Spanish tragedy" by T. Cdda (c. 1587). The first marked the beginning of a bloody drama, the second - the genre of tragedies of revenge.

There is every reason to believe that Shakespeare began his dramatic activity ca. 1590. In the first period of creativity, he created a number of bloody historical dramas - the trilogy "Henry VI" and "Richard III" and the tragedy of revenge "Titus Andronicus". Shakespeare's first comedies "The Comedy of Errors" and "The Taming of the Shrew" were distinguished by a rather crude comic, close to farces.

A turning point was outlined in 1593-1594. Although Shakespeare never gave up farce and clownery, in general his new comedies "Two Veronese", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Merchant of Venice", "Much Ado About Nothing", "As You Like It", "Twelfth Night" , "Windsor Ridiculous" is distinguished by subtle humor. They are dominated by adventurous motives and dominated by the theme of love.

Most of the historical plays of this period are colored by the belief in the triumph of the best principles in state life, which is especially noticeable in the three chronicle plays - "Henry IV" (two parts) and "Henry V". Although in them an indispensable element of the action is the dramatic struggle between the feudal lords, they have a fair amount of humor. It is in "Henry IV" that the image of Falstaff appears - a masterpiece of Shakespeare's comic.

The only tragedy of this period, which lasts until the end of the 16th century, is Romeo and Juliet (1595). Its action is imbued with deep lyricism, and even the death of young heroes does not make this tragedy hopeless. Although Romeo and Juliet die, a reconciliation of the warring families of Montagues and Capulet takes place over their corpses, love wins a moral victory over the world of evil.

The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet embodies Shakespeare's optimism in the second period. In the comedies and the only tragedy of these years, humanity triumphs over the bad principles of life.

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, a new turning point took place in Shakespeare's mindset. The first signs of it are felt in the historical tragedy "Julius Caesar" (1599). Her true hero, however, is not a great commander, but another Roman figure - Brutus, the sworn enemy of tyranny. He is involved in a conspiracy against Caesar, seeking sole despotic power, and participates in his assassination. Caesar's adherents, and first of all Mark Antony, deceive the people with demagogic speeches, the Romans expel Brutus. The noble hero is defeated and commits suicide. Victory goes to the supporters of tyranny. The tragedy is that the people (namely, they play a decisive role in this tragedy) have not matured to understand who are their true and who are their imaginary friends. Historical conditions were unfavorable for those who wanted to assert noble ideals in life, and this is expressed in Julia Caesar.

Like other representatives of the new worldview, Shakespeare believed that the best beginnings should triumph over evil. However, he and his generation had to make sure that life took a different path. For three centuries European humanism developed, preaching the need to reorganize life on new, more humane principles. It would be time to see the consequences of this. Instead, more and more negative features of bourgeois development manifested themselves in all aspects of life. The all-destructive power of gold was added to the remnants of the previous feudal-monarchical injustices.

Shakespeare felt with all his heart that humanistic ideals could not be realized in life. This was expressed in Sonnet 66. Although his translations by S. Marshak and V. Pasternak are more famous, here is another version:

* I call death, I can't look anymore,
* How a worthy husband perishes in poverty,
* A villain lives in beauty and beauty;
* How the trust of pure souls tramples on,
* How chastity is threatened with shame,
* How honors are given to scoundrels,
* How power falls before the impudent gaze,
* How a rogue triumphs everywhere in life,
* How arbitrariness mocks at art,
* How thoughtlessness rules the mind,
* How agonizingly languishes in the clutches of evil
* All that we call good.
* If not for you, my love, it would be long ago
* I was looking for a rest under the shadow of a coffin.
* Translation by O. Rumer

Probably, the sonnet was written in the late 1590s, when a turning point in Shakespeare's mind began, which led to the creation of the tragedy "Hamlet". It was apparently created in 1600-1601. Already in 1603, the first edition of the tragedy appeared. It was released without the permission of the author and the theater in which the play was staged, and was called a quarto of 1603.

The heyday of English drama began in the late 1580s, when a galaxy of writers now called "university minds" appeared: Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), Thomas Kid (1558-1594), Robert Green (c. 1560-1592), John Lily (c. 1554-1606) and several others. Milestones marking the beginning of this heyday were two tragedies - "Tamerlane the Great" (1587) by K. Marlo and "Spanish tragedy" by T. Cdda (c. 1587). The first marked the beginning of a bloody drama, the second - the genre of tragedies of revenge.

There is every reason to believe that Shakespeare began his dramatic activity ca. 1590. In the first period of creativity, he created a number of bloody historical dramas - the trilogy "Henry VI" and "Richard III" and the tragedy of revenge "Titus Andronicus". Shakespeare's first comedies "The Comedy of Errors" and "The Taming of the Shrew" were distinguished by a rather crude comic, close to farces.

In 1593-1594, a turning point was outlined. Although Shakespeare never gave up farce and clownery, in general his new comedies "Two Veronese", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Merchant of Venice", "Much Ado About Nothing", "As You Like It", "Twelfth Night" The Windsor Risers are distinguished by their subtle humor. They are dominated by adventurous motives and the theme of love.

Most of the historical plays of this period are colored by the belief in the triumph of the best principles in state life, which is especially noticeable in the three chronicle plays - "Henry IV" (two parts) and "Henry V". Although in them an indispensable element of the action is the dramatic struggle between the feudal lords, they have a fair amount of humor. It is in "Henry IV" that the image of Falstaff appears - a masterpiece of Shakespeare's comic.

The only tragedy of this period, which lasts until the end of the 16th century, is Romeo and Juliet (1595). Its action is imbued with deep lyricism, and even the death of young heroes does not make this tragedy hopeless. Although Romeo and Juliet die, a reconciliation of the warring families of Montagues and Capulet takes place over their corpses, love wins a moral victory over the world of evil.

The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet embodies Shakespeare's optimism in the second period. In the comedies and the only tragedy of these years, humanity triumphs over the bad principles of life.

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, a new turning point took place in Shakespeare's mindset. The first signs of it are felt in the historical tragedy "Julius Caesar" (1599). Her true hero, however, is not a great commander, but another Roman figure - Brutus, the sworn enemy of tyranny. He is involved in a conspiracy against Caesar, striving for the sole despotic power, and participates in his assassination. Caesar's adherents, and first of all Mark Antony, deceive the people with demagogic speeches, the Romans expel Brutus. The noble hero is defeated and commits suicide. Victory goes to the supporters of tyranny. The tragedy is that the people (namely, they play a decisive role in this tragedy) have not matured to understand who are their true and who are their imaginary friends. Historical conditions were unfavorable for those who wanted to assert noble ideals in life, and this is expressed in Julia Caesar.

Like other representatives of the new worldview, Shakespeare believed that the best beginnings should triumph over evil. However, he and his generation had to make sure that life took a different path. For three centuries European humanism developed, preaching the need to reorganize life on new, more humane principles. It would be time to see the consequences of this. Instead, more and more negative features of bourgeois development manifested themselves in all aspects of life. The all-destructive power of gold was added to the remnants of the previous feudal-monarchical injustices.

Shakespeare felt with all his heart that humanistic ideals could not be realized in life. This was expressed in Sonnet 66. Although his translations by S. Marshak and V. Pasternak are more famous, here is another version:

* I call death, I can't look anymore,
* How a worthy husband perishes in poverty,
* A villain lives in beauty and beauty;
* How the trust of pure souls tramples,
* How chastity is threatened with shame,
* How honors are given to scoundrels,
* How power falls before the impudent gaze,
* How a rogue triumphs everywhere in life,
* How arbitrariness mocks at art,
* How thoughtlessness rules the mind,
* How agonizingly languishes in the clutches of evil
* All that we call good.
* If not for you, my love, it would be long ago
* I was looking for a rest under the shadow of a coffin.
* Translation by O. Rumer

Probably, the sonnet was written in the late 1590s, when a turning point in Shakespeare's mind began, which led to the creation of the tragedy "Hamlet". It was apparently created in 1600-1601. Already in 1603, the first edition of the tragedy appeared. It was released without the permission of the author and the theater in which the play was staged, and was called a quarto of 1603.

7. THE HUMANISM OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

It is interesting that almost at the same time in England, where national statehood had already taken place, a centralized power was established, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the greatest humanist of the Late Renaissance, artistically comprehends the contradictoriness, tragedy of the already established relations "man-society-state" ...

In Shakespeare's tragedies (King Lear, Macbeth, etc.), explicitly or not, there is always a natural cosmos, which carries a completely opposite semantic load than Montaigne's. This space reflects a vague feeling that above the personal life, the consciousness of a "natural" person, there is still some kind of all-determining world, within which the heroes act. This world of transpersonal will is the sphere of social and state relations that subordinate without a trace the "natural" person to the standards of the state and make him a "state person".

The key to Shakespeare's heroes is that their life takes place in two planes: personal ("natural individuality") and national (social and civil). However, the heroes do not distinguish between these worlds: their subjectivity shakes the foundations of the world, even if they act in the circle of their own "natural" motives. The "core" of Shakespeare's tragedies is hidden in the contradictory unity of the individual and the nation-wide. For example, in "Othello" the hero's personal world is shrouded in the veils of superhuman cosmic forces. Othello, who committed the crime, begins to think that "now the moon and sun will be completely darkened, the earth will shake with horror." This figurative series sets off the faceless, social and state that invades the fate of the hero.

Othello is an ingeniously guessed image of a person who is in a consistent (seemingly) unity of his own naturalness and sociality, "statehood, citizenship." Othello is a "natural" person (this is reinforced by the fact that he is a Moor), who has the right to love, hate, be gentle, and stand up for personal insult inflicted. At the same time, he is endowed with a "set" of certain rights and obligations. In his soul, the norms of two spheres of life collided - and he died.

The murder scene of Desdemona is far from the culmination of the tragedy, as it is sometimes presented in a bad theater. The tragedy is in the scene of suicide. After finding out that Desdemona is innocent, Othello is still strong in spirit to live, and demands from those around him that he should not be prevented from leaving freely. However, everything collapses when Othello hears that the republic deprives him of his honor, that he is a prisoner and deprived of power. It is impossible to live any longer. He could not endure dishonor from the state. Othello dies not as a murderer of his wife (after all, he "proceeded from honor"), but as a man who, in defense of his personal honor, lost the honor of a citizen. Being in two spheres of ethical life is the source and power of the tragic in the fate of Othello.

At the close of the Renaissance, Shakespeare showed the existing rift between personal "natural" and social life. And at the same time he showed that no one is given to cut the inner connection between these two spheres of life of the same person - death is inevitable. But then how to live? A person turns out to be a character in search of an author.

CONCLUSION

Concluding the consideration of the philosophical quests of the Renaissance, it is necessary to note the ambiguity of assessments of its heritage. Despite the general recognition of the uniqueness of the Renaissance culture as a whole, this period for a long time was not considered original in the development of philosophy and, therefore, worthy of being singled out as an independent stage of philosophical thought. However, the duality and contradictoriness of the philosophical thinking of this time should not diminish its importance for the subsequent development of philosophy, cast doubt on the merits of the Renaissance thinkers in overcoming medieval scholasticism and creating the foundations of modern philosophy.

The English philosopher and moralist A. Shaftesbury (1671 - 1713) once remarked: any conflict between two spheres of life indicates either that society is imperfect, or that a person is imperfect in himself.

The revival took root in the dualism of the individual and the social-state, the empirical and the ideal, the emotional and the rational. The 17th century, on the basis of their opposition and analysis, tries to decide what is defining in a person.

The Renaissance is one of the most fruitful stages in the development of European history. Revival is a point of choice in the historical process, when new ways of intellectual and civilizational development are sought. Thinkers, on the one hand, return to the classical ancient heritage in a fuller volume than was the case in medieval culture, and on the other hand, they open up a new world of man and nature.

So, the Renaissance, or the Renaissance, is an era in the life of mankind, marked by a colossal rise of art and science. The art of the Renaissance, which arose on the basis of humanism - the flow of social thought, proclaiming a person the highest value of life. In art, the main theme was a beautiful, harmoniously developed person with unlimited spiritual and creative potential. The art of the Renaissance laid the foundations of the European culture of the New Age, radically changed all the main types of art. In architecture, creatively revised principles of the ancient order system were established, new types of public buildings were formed. Painting was enriched with a linear and aerial perspective, knowledge of the anatomy and proportions of the human body. The earthly content penetrated into the traditional religious themes of works of art. Interest in ancient mythology, history, everyday life scenes, landscape, and portrait has increased. Along with the monumental wall paintings that adorn architectural structures, painting appeared, and oil painting arose. The first place in art was taken by the creative individuality of the artist, as a rule, a universally gifted person.

In the art of the Renaissance, the paths of scientific and artistic comprehension of the world and man were closely intertwined. Its cognitive meaning was inextricably linked with sublime poetic beauty; in its striving for naturalness, it did not descend to petty everyday life. Art has become a universal spiritual need.

The Renaissance is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful eras in the history of mankind.

LITERATURE

1. Gurevich P.S. Human Philosophy Part 1 - M: RAN, 2005

2. Losev A.F. "Aesthetics of Renaissance". - M, 2006

3. Motroshilova N.V. The birth and development of philosophical ideas. M., 2004

4. Pico della Mirandola. Speech about the dignity of man // Man. M., 2003

5. Philosophy. A.G. Spirkin. Publishing house "Gardariki", 2006

6. Philosophy. Tutorial. I. M. Nevleva. Russian Business Literature Publishing House, 2006

7. Bruno J. Dialogues. M., 1949

8. Pico della Mirandola J. Speech about human dignity. // Aesthetics of the Renaissance. M., 1981

9. Montaigne M. Experiments. Book. I. M. 1987

10. Montaigne M. Experiments. Book. III. M. 1987

11. Montaigne M. Experiments. Book. I. M. 1987

Gurevich P.S. Human Philosophy Part 1 - Moscow: RAS, 2005, p. 11

Losev A.F. "Aesthetics of Renaissance". - M, 2006, p. 16

Motroshilova N.V. The birth and development of philosophical ideas. M., 2004, p. 29

Gurevich P.S. Philosophy of Man Part 1 - M: RAN, 2005, p.26

Losev A.F. "Aesthetics of Renaissance". - M, 2006, p. 25

Motroshilova N.V. The birth and development of philosophical ideas. M., 2004, p. 41

Synergetics (from the Greek sinergos - acting together) is the theory of self-organization that arose in the 70s of the XX century (I. Prigogine, G. Hagen). He studies the processes of transition of open non-equilibrium systems from less to more ordered forms of organization, from chaos to order. In theology, the term "synergy" is used, which is understood as the collaboration of man with God in the creation of salvation.

Gurevich P.S. Human Philosophy Part 1 - Moscow: RAS, 2005, p. 29

Bruno J. Dialogues. M., 1949.S. 291.

Pico della Mirandola J. Speech on human dignity. // Aesthetics of the Renaissance. M., 1981.S. 249.

Pico della Mirandola J. Speech on human dignity. // Aesthetics of the Renaissance. M., 1981.S. 250.

Losev A.F. "Aesthetics of Renaissance". - M, 2006, p.54

Montaigne M. Experiments. Book one. M.-L., 1954.S. 194, 203, 205, 201, 205.

Motroshilova N.V. The birth and development of philosophical ideas. M., 2004, p. 64

Motroshilova N.V. The birth and development of philosophical ideas. M., 2004, p. 68

Montaigne M. Experiments. Book. I. P. 195.

Montaigne M. Experiments. Book. III. P. 291.

Philosophy. A.G. Spirkin. Publishing house "Gardariki", 2006, p.36

Philosophy. Tutorial. I. M. Nevleva. Publishing house "Russian Business Literature", 2006, p.57

Montaigne M. Experiments. Book. I. p. 204.

Philosophy. A.G. Spirkin. Publishing house "Gardariki", 2006, p. 68

Became one of the sources of the teachings of Giordano Bruno about the infinity of the universe. The philosophical and theological views of Nikolai Kuzansky can serve as a vivid example of the cardinal property of the entire philosophy of the Renaissance - the desire to reconcile various scientific and religious trends in the mainstream of one doctrine. Science notes that the development of Kuzantz's worldview was influenced by the ancient teachings ...

Relations, first of all, in the sphere of economics, it was during this period that science developed, relations between church and state changed, the ideology of humanism was formed. 2 The main features of the philosophy of the Renaissance 2.1 Humanism - the rise of man If in medieval society corporate and class ties between people were very strong, and medieval man was perceived all the more valuable as ...

Prepared the formation of experimental mathematical science and mechanistic materialism in the XYII - XYIII centuries. 3. The main directions of development of Western European philosophy in the Renaissance The main directions of the philosophy of the Renaissance include the following directions: humanistic, natural philosophical and socio-political. Humanistic direction. Renaissance humanism - ...

William Shakespeare

The work of the great English writer William Shakespeare is of worldwide importance. Shakespeare's genius is dear to all mankind. The world of ideas and images of the poet-humanist is truly huge. Shakespeare's worldwide significance lies in the realism and nationality of his work.

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon into a glove family. The future playwright studied at a grammar school, where he taught Latin and Greek, as well as literature and history. Life in a provincial city provided an opportunity for close communication with the people, from which Shakespeare learned English folklore and the richness of the vernacular. For a time, Shakespeare was a junior teacher. In 1582 he married Anna Hatvey; he had three children. In 1587 Shakespeare left for London and soon began to play on stage, although he did not have much success as an actor. From 1593 he worked at the Burbage Theater as an actor, director and playwright, and from 1599 he became a shareholder of the Globe Theater. Shakespeare's plays were very popular, although very few people knew his name at that time, because the viewer paid attention primarily to the actors.

In London, Shakespeare met a group of young aristocrats. One of them, the Earl of Southampton, he dedicated his poems "Venus and Adonis" (Venus and Adonis, 1593) and "Lucrece" (Lucrece, 1594). In addition to these poems, he wrote a collection of sonnets and thirty-seven plays.

In 1612 Shakespeare left the theater, stopped writing plays and returned to Stratford-on-Avon. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 and was buried in his hometown.

The lack of information about Shakespeare's life gave rise to the so-called Shakespearean question. Since the 18th century. some researchers began to express the idea that Shakespeare's plays were written not by Shakespeare, but by another person who wanted to hide his authorship and published his works under the name of Shakespeare. Herbert Lawrence declared in 1772 that the author of the plays was the philosopher Francis Bacon; Delia Bacon claimed in 1857 that the plays were written by members of Walter Raleigh's circle, which included Bacon; Karl Bleibtray in 1907, Dumblen in 1918, F. Shipulinsky in 1924 tried to prove that Lord Retland was the author of the plays. Some scholars have attributed authorship to the Earl of Oxford, the Earl of Pembroke, and the Earl of Derby. In our country, this theory was supported by V.M. Fritsche. IA Aksenov believed that many plays were not written by Shakespeare, but only edited by him.

Theories denying Shakespeare's authorship are untenable. They arose on the basis of distrust of the traditions that served as the source of Shakespeare's biography, and on the basis of a reluctance to see genius giftedness in a person of democratic origin who did not graduate from university. What is known about Shakespeare's life fully confirms his authorship. A philosophical mind, poetic outlook, vastness of knowledge, deep penetration into moral and psychological problems - all these Shakespeare possessed thanks to enhanced reading, communication with the people, active participation in the affairs of his time, attentive attitude to life.

Shakespeare's career is divided into three periods. In the first period (1591-1601), the poems Venus and Adonis and Lucretius, sonnets and almost all historical chronicles, with the exception of Henry VIII (1613), were created; three tragedies: Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. The most characteristic genre for this period was a cheerful, light comedy ("The Taming of the Shrew", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Merchant of Venice", "Windsor Mockers", "Much Ado About Nothing", "As You Like It", night").

The second period (1601-1608) was marked by an interest in tragic conflicts and tragic heroes. Shakespeare creates tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens. Comedies written during this period already bear a tragic reflection; in the comedies Troilus and Cressida and Measure for Measure, the satirical element is reinforced.

The third period (1608-1612) includes the tragicomedy Pericles, Cymbelin, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, in which fiction and allegorism appear.

The pinnacle of English poetry of the Renaissance and the most important milestone in the history of world poetry were Shakespeare's sonnets (1592-1598, published in 1699). By the end of the XVI century. the sonnet became the leading genre in English poetry. Shakespeare's sonnets, in terms of their philosophical depth, lyrical power, dramatic feeling and musicality, occupy an outstanding place in the development of sonnet art of that time. 154 sonnets created by Shakespeare unite in the image of a lyrical hero who praises his devoted friendship with a wonderful young man and his ardent and painful love for the dark lady (The Dark Lady of the Sonnets). Shakespeare's sonnets are a lyrical confession; the hero tells about the life of his heart, about his conflicting feelings; it is a passionate monologue, angrily denouncing the hypocrisy and cruelty that reigned in society, and opposing them with enduring spiritual values ​​- friendship, love, art. The sonnets reveal the complex and multifaceted spiritual world of the lyrical hero, who vividly responds to the problems of his time. The poet exalts the spiritual beauty of man and at the same time depicts the tragedy of life in the conditions of that time.

Artistic excellence in expressing deep philosophical ideas is inseparable from the condensed, laconic form of the sonnet. The Shakespearean sonnet uses the following rhyming scheme: abab cdcd efef gg. Three quatrains provide a dramatic development of the theme, often with the help of contrasts and antitheses and in the form of a metaphorical image; the final distich is an aphorism that formulates the philosophical thought of the topic.

The skill of the truthful lyrical portrait is distinguished by the depiction of a swarthy lady in Sonnet 130. Shakespeare abandons campy, eufuistic comparisons in an effort to paint the real image of a woman:

Her eyes are not like the stars, You cannot call the mouth corals, The open skin of the shoulders is not snow-white, And a strand curls with black wire. With a damask rose, scarlet or white, The shade of these cheeks cannot be compared. And the body smells like the body smells, Not like violets, a delicate petal. (Translated by S. Marshak)

Among the sonnets in which the most important social ideas are expressed, sonnet 66 stands out. This is an angry denunciation of a society based on baseness, meanness and deceit. All the ulcers of an unjust society are named in lapidary phrases. The lyrical hero is so much worried about the terrible picture of triumphant evil that has opened before him that he begins to call for death. The sonnet, however, ends with a glimpse of light mood. The hero recalls his beloved, for which he must live:

Everything that I see around is disgusting, But it's a pity to leave you, dear friend!

The lyrical hero utters his accusatory monologue, which is an immediate outburst of indignation, in one breath. This is conveyed by repeating the conjunction "and" in ten lines of poetry. The use of the words "tir" d with all these "(exhausted by everyone ...) at the beginning and at the end of the sonnet emphasizes the direct connection of the lyrical hero's experiences with the social problems of the time. The hero absorbs into his spiritual world everything that worries a person in the public world. the experiences of the lyrical hero is expressed in the whipping up of energetic phrases, each of which is an antithesis that reproduces a real social contradiction.The hero can no longer see Insignificance in luxurious clothes, And a false sentence to perfection, And virginity, rudely mocked, And shame inappropriate honor, And power in captivity of toothless weakness ...

The tense feelings of the lyrical hero correspond to the frequent and strict alternation of assonances and alliterations:

And folly - doctor-like - controlling skill ... And captive good attending captain ill ...

Through the means of language and style, all the power of the emotions of the agitated hero is superbly conveyed. Sonnet 146 is dedicated to the greatness of a person who, thanks to his spiritual quest and tireless creative burning, is able to gain immortality.

Reign over death in fleeting life, And death will die, and you will remain forever.

The diverse connections of the spiritual world of the lyrical hero with various aspects of social life of that time are emphasized by metaphorical images based on political, economic, legal, and military concepts. Love is revealed as a real feeling, so the relationship of lovers is compared with the socio-political relationship of that time. Sonnet 26 introduces the concepts of vassalage and ambassage; Sonnet 46 contains legal terms: “the defendant doth that plea deny”; in the 107th sonnet there is an image associated with economics: “love as rent” (the lease of my true love); Sonnet 2 contains military terms: "When forty winters shall besiege thy brow, And dig deep trenches in the beauty" s field .. .).

Shakespeare's sonnets are musical. The whole figurative structure of his poems is close to music.

Shakespeare's poetic image is also close to the pictorial image. In the verbal art of the sonnet, the poet relies on the law of perspective discovered by the Renaissance artists. The 24th sonnet begins with the words: My eye became an engraver and your image Imprinted in my chest truly. Since then I have been serving as a frame alive, And the best in art is perspective.

The sense of perspective was a way of expressing the dynamics of being, the multidimensionality of real life, the uniqueness of human individuality *.

* See: Samarin P.M. Shakespeare's realism. - M., 1964, ch. "Aesthetic Problems of Shakespeare's Sonnets". The lyrical tragedy of the sonnets finds development in the tragedies of Shakespeare. Sonnet 127 anticipates Othello's tragic theme:

Black was not considered beautiful, When beauty was appreciated in the world. But, apparently, the white light has changed - the Beautiful has been blackened by shame.

The 66th sonnet in miniature contains the philosophical content and lyrical tonality characteristic of the tragedy "Hamlet".

Shakespeare's sonnets were translated into Russian by I. Mamun, N. Gerbel, P. Kuskov, M. Tchaikovsky, E. Ukhtomsky, N. Kholodkovsky, O. Rumer. The best are the translations published in 1949 by S.Ya. Marshak, who managed to convey the philosophical depth and musicality of Shakespeare's sonnets.

Shakespeare's humanistic worldview is revealed with particular force in the artistic analysis of socio-political conflicts and tragic contradictions in the life of a person and society, which is given in his historical chronicles. The essence of the genre of historical chronicle consists in the dramatic depiction of real persons and events of national history. Unlike tragedies, where Shakespeare, in the interests of design, departed from an accurate depiction of historical facts, the chronicle is characterized by a faithful reproduction of historical events, which, however, presupposes artistic speculation and artistic re-creation of the material *.

* See: Yu.F. Shvedov. William Shakespeare: Research. - M., 1977; Komarova V.P. Personality and State in Shakespeare's Historical Dramas. - L., 1977.

Shakespeare's historical chronicles include ten plays:

Henry VI. Part one "(The First part of King Henry VI, 1590-1592);

Henry VI. Part two "(The Second part of King Henry VI, 1590-1592);

Henry VI. Part three "(The Third part of King Henry VI, 1590-1592);

"Richard III" (The Tragedy of King Richard III, 1592-1593);

"Richard II" (The Tragedy of King Richard II, 1595-1597);

"King John" (The Life and Death of King John, 1595-1597);

Henry IV. Part one "(The First part of King Henry IV, 1597-1598);

Henry IV. Part two "(The Second part of King Henry IV, 1597-1598);

Henry V (The Life of King Henry V, 1598-1599);

Henry VIII (The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII, 1612-1613).

In historical chronicles, Shakespeare gives his understanding and his interpretation of historical events and actions of historical persons. Using the material of the past, he solves the problems that worried his contemporaries. The history in his chronicles serves to understand the current state of society. Chronicles, as well as tragedies, are characterized by ethical pathos, a philosophical formulation of the problem of good and evil, a humanistic interest in the individual and her fate. Chronicles are in many ways close not only to tragedies, but also to the comedies of Shakespeare; they provide a comedic depiction of "Falstaff's background".

The emergence of the genre of historical chronicle is due to the contradictions of the very English reality. VG Belinsky thus substantiated the development of historical chronicle in England: “Historical drama is possible only under the condition of the struggle of heterogeneous elements of state life. It is not without reason that drama reached its highest development only among some Englishmen; It was no accident that Shakespeare appeared in England, and not in any other state: nowhere were the elements of state life in such a contradiction, in such a struggle among themselves, as in England ”*.

* Belinsky V.G. Poly. collection cit .: In 13 volumes - M, 1954.-T. 5. - P. 496.

Shakespeare's appeal to the genre of historical chronicle was also conditioned by the growing interest of society in national history during the period of the struggle to strengthen the national state. The source of the plots of historical chronicles was the already mentioned work of R. Holinshed "Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland".

In the trilogy "Henry VI" a wide canvas is drawn: the war of the Scarlet and White Roses is depicted, when the English barons brutally exterminated each other in the internecine struggle between Lancaster and York. Shakespeare correctly showed the bloody feuds of the feudal lords, condemning both warring parties. The playwright advocates a strong royal power that could end feudal wars. Therefore, he condemns King Henry VI, a weak, unable to rule the country, a man unable to pacify the warring barons. Henry VI does not commit any atrocities, but he is guilty of evading the duty of the head of state and dreaming of giving up the crown to become a shepherd. Henry VI dies precisely because he failed to reasonably use the power given to him.

In the historical chronicles of Shakespeare, the strength of the people is shown. The barons are forced to reckon with the mood of the masses. The second part of "Henry VI" depicts the revolt of John Cad in 1450. Shakespeare revealed the pattern of popular protest that arose in connection with the plight of peasants and urban artisans due to feudal strife. However, Shakespeare saw how the feudal lords used the popular revolt for their own purposes.

The trilogy "Henry VI" describes the conditions in the life of society that lead to the emergence of a tyrant. The bloody rivalry of the aristocrats was the prerequisite for the rise to power of Richard of Gloucester, the future Richard III. In the trilogy finale, Richard Gloucester's dark personality becomes more and more influential.

In the play "Richard III" this character becomes central. The play itself approaches tragedy in its structure. The attention to the course of historical events characteristic of "Henry VI" is replaced in "Richard III" by attention to the character of the hero and his conflict with others. Richard III appears not just as a character usurping power, but as a psychologically convincing personality. Shakespeare develops the accusatory characterization of him as a tyrant, given to him in Thomas More's The History of Richard III (1514-1518). Richard III is condemned by Shakespeare as a politician using Machiavellian ways to achieve power, resorting to criminal acts in the struggle for the throne. He covers up his cruelty and criminal plans with hypocritical discourses about the good. At the same time, alone with himself, he directly speaks about his cunning, about his conscious intention not to reckon with his conscience.

Richard III is smart and courageous, he possesses great willpower, conquering those who treat him with distrust and hostility. His behavior is a game that misleads many. He managed to seduce Anna, knowing that he had killed her husband. There is a titanic element in the villainous appearance of Richard III. It is no coincidence that VG Belinsky wrote: “A tragic person must certainly arouse participation. Richard III himself is a monster of villainy, arouses participation with a gigantic power of spirit ”*. Richard III, who justified his cruelty with the words: "A fist is our conscience, and the law is a sword for us," in the end he experiences pangs of conscience and in the face of death condemns himself for breaking his oath, committing murder and thereby dooming himself to loneliness ...

* Belinsky V.G. Poly. collection cit .: In 13 volumes - Moscow, 1955 .-- T. 7. - S. 534.

The action in the play is the realization of the cunning villainous plans of the protagonist, it demonstrates the art of intrigue of Richard III, who himself acts as an actor and director in scenes of violence and murder. He plays confidently and boldly, his actions lead to success: he achieves the throne. But after becoming king, the tyrant feels that he cannot strengthen his power through crime.

Condemning tyranny, Shakespeare puts forward the idea of ​​a monarchy that can establish peace and tranquility in the country. The tyrant Richard III is opposed by the Earl of Richmond, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. This image is only outlined here, but its ideological and compositional significance is great: it is associated with the idea of ​​the need to fight against despotism, about the laws of victory over tyranny. The theme of a monarch who cares for the good of the country, outlined in the image of Richmond, grows in the next chronicle - "King John" - in the theme of a patriotic monarch. The play was created at a time when England felt threatened by Catholic Spain. Therefore, the theme of patriotism and the theme of condemnation of Catholicism became central in the chronicle. The theme of patriotism is revealed in the images of John Lackland and Bastard Fockenbridge.

Shakespeare's patriotic position is the main criterion in assessing the behavior of characters in the play "Richard II". In its plot, this drama is close to "Edward II" by Christopher Marlowe. In both works, the depraved king's refusal from the crown and his death are depicted. However, the similarity of the plot situation is explained not so much by the influence of Marlowe's drama on Shakespeare's drama, as by the closeness of the fate of historical figures. The astute Richard II feels that time has turned against him. In a state of deep mental crisis, he refuses the crown.

Duke Henry Bolingbroke, the antagonist of Richard II, is a smart and subtle politician. Bolingbroke's courage and courage aroused sympathy for him from the people. The Duke skillfully uses his popularity among the common people to carry out his ambitious plans. Shakespeare treats Bolingbroke's patriotism with great sympathy, but speaks with obvious hostility about his hypocrisy, prudence, and ambition. The usurpation of power is represented by an immoral deed leading to a crime - the murder of Richard P.

Shakespeare's best historical dramas are the two parts "Henry IV" and "Henry V". Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV, comes into conflict with the feudal lords. His main opponents are the barons from the Percy clan. Raising a rebellion against the king, the feudal lords act inconsistently, selfish interests prevent them from uniting. As a result of such disunity, the brave Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur ("Hot Spur"), is tragically killed during the mutiny. And in this chronicle Shakespeare shows the inevitability of the defeat of the feudal lords in a clash with royal power. Nevertheless, Knight Hotspur is outlined in positive tones. He evokes sympathy for his loyalty to the ideal of military honor, courage and fearlessness. Shakespeare is attracted by the moral qualities of the brave knight. But he does not accept Hotspur as a person who expresses the interests of the feudal lords and is associated with forces that are receding into the past. Hotspur acts as an adversary to Henry IV, Prince Harry and Falstaff, and is clearly inferior to these heroes representing the emerging forces of society. The play reflects the objective regularity of time: the tragic death of the feudal lords and the gradual establishment of a new force - absolutism.

King Henry IV, having found himself on the throne thanks to skillful diplomatic actions, eventually loses activity and, like his predecessors, finds himself in a state of moral crisis. Henry IV is concerned that he has failed to rid the country of fratricidal wars. Shortly before the death of the sick Henry IV, moving away from former suspicion and secrecy, in a conversation with his son, he directly expresses his concern for the fate of England, giving Prince Harry advice on state affairs. Henry IV could not bring the struggle against the feudal lords to the end because he himself always acted as a feudal lord and came to power as a feudal lord, having usurped the throne.

The most important role in the plot of both parts of "Henry IV" is played by the image of Prince Harry, the future King Henry V. In accordance with the legend prevailing in the Renaissance, Shakespeare presented Prince Harry as a dissolute fellow, indulging in fun and amusing adventures in the company of Falstraf. But despite the dissipation, Prince Harry is a morally pure man. Although Prince Harry was actually a cruel adventurer, Shakespeare presented him as a handsome youth. The idealization of the prince is due to Shakespeare's belief in the progressiveness of an absolute monarchy that unites the nation.

Prince Harry's personality is multifaceted. Resolute and courageous, he acts in battle, lively and direct in communication with the people, smart and far-sighted in state affairs. Prince Harry spends his life in entertainment, with Falstaff, Bardolph and Pistol, he has fun in the "Boar's head" tavern. But even in the scenes of revelry, Harry remains a noble man. He attracts with a kind attitude towards ordinary people, the ability to find a common language with them. Leading the life of a dissolute fellow, the prince, at the same time, thinks very seriously about how he will come to power and rule the country. For Prince Harry, democratic communication with the lower classes of society is a form of wide acquaintance with those who will become his subjects.

The historical chronicles "Henry IV" and "Henry V" depict the motley plebeian strata of society - peasants, servants, soldiers, merchants, the so-called "Falstaffian background". The realism of the historical drama was determined by the multifaceted and multifaceted portrayal of society. The posing of the question of the situation of the people, of the relations of the monarch with the people, is acquiring great importance. "Falstaff's background" is a realistic picture of the life of the lower classes of society, not only at the time when the chronicles take place, but also contemporary Shakespeare England.

Of the characters in the "Falstaffian background", the most striking comic image of Sir John Falstaff stands out. This fat knight makes people laugh with his endless antics and witty speech. There are many vices in Falstaff. He is a libertine, drunkard, liar and robber. Hence the satirical touches in this image. But the main thing in Falstaff is the element of fun, artistic play, endless ingenuity. This image conveys the charm of human nature, not constrained by social conventions. Falstaff is good-natured and frank, cheerful and cheerful, adventurous and wise. The cheeky and mischievous Falstaff, surrounded by comic characters, embodies the cheerful spirit of the Renaissance, opposing both the religious morality of the Middle Ages and the puritanical hypocrisy of bourgeois circles. Falstaff laughs at religious hypocrisy. An impoverished nobleman and knight, he lives off robberies on the high road. Realizing the power of money, he at the same time does not bow before them. Unlike the bourgeois, Falstaff is deprived of the thirst for hoarding or petty hoarding and thrift. He needs money in order to enjoy life.

Falstaff confronts Hotspur with his rejection of knightly honor. The knightly honor of the feudal lords was reduced to the obligatory participation in internecine wars. Knight Falstaff has a negative attitude towards knightly honor precisely because he sees the senseless cruelty of war. Falstaff is a comic image of a warrior of that time. He is very worried about his life, which is dearer to him than anything else in the world, therefore he does not serve especially diligently, covering up his lack of service zeal with cunning and lies.

Falstaff is charming with his boundless love of life, unbridled imagination, playful buffoonery, self-confidence, shrewd and witty criticism of feudal morality. Falstaff's cynical judgment is a form in which the unattractive nature of relations in feudal society is revealed and emphasized.

One of the most significant images created by Shakespeare, Falstaff represents the comedic world of Shakespearean drama, while Hamlet marks the world of tragedy. The image of Falstaff is a comic correspondence to the tragic plan of the main content of the historical chronicles. Those problems, which in the main storyline are revealed in a tragic aspect, in the "Falstaffian background" are given in a comic plane. Falstaff's speech is presented in prose, in contrast to the poetic speech of tragic characters. His speech is spontaneous, in it the laughter culture of the national language is very naturally revealed. Often Falstaff's witticisms are based on playing with the homonymous sound of words, on parodies. The comic image of Falstaff is also based on the emphasized discrepancy between the appearance of a fat elderly campaigner and the cheerful daring actions and statements of a young man in spirit.

Prince Harry is friends with the witty hedonist Falstaff. When the prince becomes King Henry V, he removes Falstaff from him. In this character relationship, there are echoes of the real relationship between Henry V and Sir John Oldcastle, who is considered the prototype of Falstaff.

The relationship between Falstaff and Prince Harry is deeply meaningful. Thanks to his friendship with Falstaff, Prince Harry joins the Renaissance spirit of criticism and cheerfulness, gets acquainted with the life and customs of ordinary people. In his relationship with Prince Harry, Falstaff is gullible; he considers the prince to be his loyal friend. In this friendly affection, the spiritual generosity of the Renaissance personality, Falstaff's superiority over the "ideal monarch" is manifested. But Falstaff is inferior to Prince Harry in the sobriety of his assessment of new circumstances. Prince Harry's break with Falstaff is inevitable. The "ideal monarch" Henry V, having come to power, renounces the former Renaissance freemen. Neither humor nor spiritual generosity is needed to strengthen the absolutist regime.

In the first period of his creativity, along with historical chronicles, Shakespeare created cheerful, optimistic comedies in which a person acts as the creator of his own happiness, overcoming sometimes difficult dramatic situations. Comedies include the following plays: The Comedy of Errors, 1591, The Taming of the Shrew, 1594, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, 1594-1595, The fruitless efforts of love "(Love" s Labor "s Lost, 1594-1595)," A Midsummer-Night "s Dream, 1594-1595)," The Merchant of Venice "(1595) , The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1597, Much Ado about Nothing, 1598-1599, As You Like It (1599-1600), Twelfth Night, or What You Will, 1600.

In the cheerful farcical play The Taming of the Shrew, the vivid characters of Catarina and Petruchio appear, standing out among the calculating townspeople of Padua. Katarina is reputed to be an obstinate girl, while her sister Bianca is known for her meekness. Katarina's obstinacy and rudeness is just a way to defend her dignity, a way to resist petty calculations, the despotism of her father and the suitors who besiege the house. Katarina is annoyed by Bianca's facelessness, the baseness of the suitors. With her usual rudeness, she meets Petruchio. A long duel begins between them, as a result of which they both felt that they were not inferior to each other in energy, fortitude, love of life and wit, that they were worthy of each other in mind and will.

The idea of ​​the triumph of life and love is also revealed in the comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. The poetic world of this comedy is in a bizarre mixture of the earthly, the real with the fabulous, the fantastic. In this comedy, the humanist Shakespeare contrasts the conventional character of traditional morality with the natural naturalness of human feelings and passions. The theme of love is illuminated here in a lyrical and humorous way. The love of young heroes is a pure, bright feeling. It wins, despite all the whims and quirks of human character and human behavior.

There are deeply dramatic conflicts and even tragic motives in Shakespeare's comedy. In this respect, the comedy "The Merchant of Venice" is characteristic. Against the backdrop of the cheerful carnival atmosphere of Venice, there is a sharp clash between the world of joy, trust and nobility and the world of self-interest, greed and cruelty. In this comedy, Shakespeare developed the motives of the novel by Giovanni Fiorentino, giving them a dramatic depth. The play sharply contrasted those who value selfless friendship most of all - Portia, Antonio, Bassanio, and those who subordinate all human relations to proprietary interests. Antonio borrows money from the money lender Shylock to help his friend Bassanio, who is in love with Portia. Antonio, who did not return the borrowed money on time, is brought to trial. The cruel Shylock, according to the promissory note, demands from Antonio a pound of his meat for non-payment of the debt. Portia, disguised as a lawyer, appears at the trial in Antonio's defense. Good triumphs over evil. Young people triumph over the usurer.

The image of Shylock is presented in the comedy not only as the embodiment of evil. Shylock's character is complex. Shylock's versatility was noted by Pushkin: “Shylock is stingy, sharp-witted, vindictive, child-loving, witty” *. There is a tragic beginning in this image. Shylock is shown as a cruel and vindictive usurer, but at the same time as a person suffering from his humiliated position in society. With a great sense of human dignity, Shylock speaks of the fact that people are equal by nature, despite the difference in nationalities. Shylock loves his daughter Jessica and is shocked that she ran away from his house. In some of his features, Shylock can evoke sympathy, but on the whole he is condemned as a predator, as a person who does not know mercy, as “one who has no music in his soul”. Shylock's evil world is opposed in comedy by a bright and joyful world of generosity and nobility. Heinrich Heine in his essay "Girls and Women of Shakespeare" (1838) wrote: "Portia is a harmoniously clear embodiment of bright joy as opposed to the dark misfortune that Shylock embodies" **.

* Pushkin the critic. - M, 1950 .-- S. 412.

** Heine G. Sobr. cit .: In 10 volumes - M; L., 1958 .-- T. 7. - S. 391.

In the funny everyday comedy "Windsor Ridiculous" there is a whole gallery of comic images: the stupidity of Judge Shallow, his nephew Slender, is ridiculed, Pastor Hugh Evans jokes. A whole group of comic characters from the historical chronicle "Henry IV" - Falstaff, Bardolph, Shallow, Pistol, Mrs. Quickley, moved into this comedy.

Falstaff undergoes significant changes in "Windsor Ridiculous". He lost his freethinking, humor, ingenuity. Now Falstaff plays the role of an unlucky red tape, who was taught a lesson by the Windsor pranksters. Once in a bourgeois environment, he becomes a miserable and dull man in the street, becomes prudent and thrifty.

The Windsor Ridicule comedy is imbued with a fun carnival atmosphere. But, unlike other comedies, the action in it takes place in a bourgeois environment, which gives Shakespeare the opportunity to better convey the real life and customs of that time, especially in scenes depicting the everyday existence of Pages and Fords, the life of an inn, a duel between Kayus and Evans, Page's exam.

The whimsical intrigue and setting in the comedy Much Ado About Nothing is taken from the works of Bandello and Ariosto. Shakespeare introduced into the famous plot, which was also used by Spencer, an original combination of the tragic and the comic.

The comedy As You Like It, based on Thomas Lodge's pastoral novel Rosalind, or the Golden Heritage of Eufuez, is essentially a parody of the pastoral style. Living in the bosom of nature, in the Ardennes Forest, is a kind of utopia, an expression of the dream of a simple and natural life. The general flavor of the comedy is determined not by the pastoral element, but by the folklore traditions of the ballads about Robin Hood. In the Ardennes forest live not only the shepherdesses Sylvius and Phoebe, but also exiles: the deprived of the throne, the duke, Rosalind, pursued by a cruel uncle, robbed by Orlando's brother. The human world of the inhabitants of the Ardennes Forest is opposed to the cruel and greedy modern society. A satirical criticism of the vices of an aristocratic society is given in the statements of the witty jester Touchstone with his folk humor and the melancholic Jacques. Jester Touchstone very simply and rightly judges the life of the peasant Audrey.

The humorous element of the play is combined with the lyrical theme of the tender feelings of Orlando and Rosalind. A kind of result of Shakespeare's comedy of the first period of creativity was the comedy "Twelfth Night, or Whatever." Based on the plot of one of Bandello's short stories, it got its name because it was performed on the twelfth night after Christmas, when the merriment of the Christmas holidays ended. Twelfth Night was the last of Shakespeare's hilarious, upbeat, carnival comedies.

In "Twelfth Night" Shakespeare penetrates into the depths of the human heart, talks about surprises in human behavior, about unforeseen spiritual movements, about the selectivity of feelings. The basis of the comedy intrigue is a random coincidence that abruptly changed the fate of a person. The comedy affirms the idea that, despite all the whims of fate, a person must fight for his own happiness.

The play takes place in the exotic country of Illyria. Its ruler, the Duke of Orsino, lives in a fascinating world of love and music. The highest value for him is love. Orsino is in love with Olivia, who does not respond to his feelings. She lives as a recluse, spending time in mournful thoughts about her deceased brother. In the possession of the duke, Viola, who was saved from the shipwreck, turns out to be. Disguised as a man, she, under the name of Caesario, enters the service of the duke. Viola-Cesario falls in love with Orsino, but she selflessly fulfills the Duke's request to go to Olivia and tell her about his love.

The persistence of Caesario, seeking a reception at Olivia's house, his eloquence, addressed to her, fascinate the recluse. Olivia falls in love with Caesario, confesses her passion for him and speaks of love:

Love is always beautiful and desirable, Especially when it is unexpected. (Translated by E. Lipetskaya)

By the will of fate, in Illyria, Viola's brother Sebastian, who disappeared during a shipwreck, turns out to be very similar to his sister. Olivia, who meets Sebastian, takes him for Caesario. When the secret is revealed, happy weddings take place.

In the system of images of comedy, an important place belongs to the jester Feste. The peculiarity of Feste is that his humor is sad. He talks about the transience of life and happiness, about the inevitability of death. Jester Feste, along with the company of the merry fellow and joker Toby Belcha, taunts Olivia's butler, the arrogant Puritan Malvolio. Malvolio lacks a sense of humor. Feste's witticisms annoy him. Gloomy Malvolio is the enemy of fun and joy. Everything he says is sheer edification and censure. In response to Malvolio's puritanical severity, Toby Belch says to him the words that have become winged in England: "Do you think that if you are such a saint, there will be no more pies or drunken beer in the world?"

In the first period of creativity Shakespeare created three tragedies: "Titus Andronicus" (Titus Andronicus, 1594), "Romeo and Juliet" (Romeo and Juliet, 1595), "Julius Caesar" (Julius Caesar, 1599).

"Titus Andronicus" was written in the genre of "bloody tragedy", in the tradition of the tragedies of Seneca. The plot episodes of this play are murders, one after the other. Twenty sons of Titus Andronicus, his daughter and himself perish, many other characters perish. The commander Titus Andronicus is faithful to his patriotic duty to Rome. However, the high morality of a patriot no longer saves Rome from decay. The insidious and cruel Saturninus, Tamora and the Moor Aaron enter the struggle with Titus Andronicus. The dramatically sharp conflict is revealed, however, as a chain of bloody atrocities, without deeply affecting the essence of the tragic conflict.

Shakespeare's tragic art in all its perfection was first manifested in the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet". As a source, Shakespeare used Arthur Brooke's poem Romeo and Juliet (1562), which in its plot dates back to the works of Italian authors. Based on Brooke's poem, Shakespeare created a work that was original in idea and artistic skill. He sings in him the sincerity and purity of youthful feelings, sings love, free from the shackles of medieval feudal morality. VG Belinsky says this about the idea of ​​this play: “The pathos of the Shakespearean drama“ Romeo and Juliet ”is the idea of ​​love, - and therefore, enthusiastic, pathetic speeches pouring from the lips of lovers like fiery waves sparkling with the bright light of the stars ... because in the lyrical monologues of Romeo and Juliet one can see not only admiration for each other, but also a solemn, proud, ecstatic confession of love as a divine feeling ”*.

* Belinsky V.G. Poly. collection cit .: In 13 volumes - T. 7. - S. 313.

Romeo and Juliet has a tangible connection to Shakespeare's comedies. The closeness to comedies is reflected in the leading role of the theme of love, in the comic character of the nurse, in the wit of Mercutio, in the farce with the servants, in the carnival atmosphere of the ball in the Capulet's house, in the light, optimistic coloring of the entire play. However, in the development of the main theme - the love of young heroes - Shakespeare turns to the tragic. The tragic beginning appears in the play in the form of a conflict of social forces, and not as a drama of an internal, mental struggle.

The tragic death of Romeo and Juliet was caused by the tribal enmity of the Montague and the Capulet families and feudal morality. The strife between families takes the lives of other young people - Tybalt and Mercutio. The latter before his death condemns this strife: "A plague on both your houses." Neither the duke nor the townspeople could stop the enmity. And only after the death of Romeo and Juliet comes the reconciliation of the warring Montagues and Capulet.

The high and bright feeling of lovers marks the awakening of new forces in society at the dawn of a new era. But the clash of old and new morality inevitably leads the heroes to a tragic end. The tragedy ends with the moral affirmation of the love of life for beautiful human feelings. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is lyrical, it is permeated with the poetry of youth, the exaltation of the nobility of the soul and the all-conquering power of love. The final words of the play are also covered with lyrical tragedy:

But there is no sadder story in the world Than the story of Romeo and Juliet. (Translated by T. Shchepkina-Kupernik)

In the characters of the tragedy, the spiritual beauty of a Renaissance man is revealed. Young Romeo is a free personality. He has already moved away from his patriarchal family and is not bound by feudal morality. Romeo finds joy in communicating with friends: his best friend is the noble and courageous Mercutio. Love for Juliet illuminated Romeo's life, made him a courageous and strong man. In the rapid rise of feelings, in the natural impulse of youthful passion, the flowering of the human personality comes. In his love, full of victorious joy and foreboding of trouble, Romeo appears as an active and energetic nature. With what courage he endures the grief caused by the news of Juliet's death! How much determination and valor in the realization that life without Juliet is impossible for him!

For Juliet, love was a feat. She heroically fights against the housebuilding morality of her father and defies the laws of blood vengeance. The courage and wisdom of Juliet was manifested in the fact that she became above the age-old feud between the two families. Falling in love with Romeo, Juliet rejects the cruel conventions of social tradition. Respect and love for a person is more important for her than all the rules consecrated by tradition. Juliet says:

After all, only your name is - my enemy, And you - after all, it is you, not Montague.

Love reveals the beautiful soul of the heroine. Juliet is captivating with sincerity and tenderness, ardor and devotion. Her whole life is in love for Romeo. After the death of her beloved, there can be no life for her, and she courageously chooses death.

Monk Lorenzo occupies an important place in the system of images of tragedy. Brother Lorenzo is far from religious fanaticism. He is a humanist scientist, he sympathizes with new trends and freedom-loving aspirations arising in society. So, he helps, as much as he can, Romeo and Juliet, who are forced to hide their marriage. The wise Lorenzo understands the depth of the young heroes' feelings, but sees that their love can lead to a tragic end.

Pushkin highly appreciated this tragedy. He called the images of Romeo and Juliet "charming creatures of Shakespeare's grace", and Mercutio - "refined, affectionate, noble", "the most wonderful person of all tragedy." On the whole, Pushkin spoke about this tragedy in the following way: "It reflects Italy, contemporary to the poet, with its climate, passions, holidays, bliss, sonnets, with its luxurious language, full of brilliance and concetti."

The tragedy "Julius Caesar" completes the cycle of historical chronicles and prepares the appearance of the great tragedies of Shakespeare. The playwright used the material of Plutarch's Comparative Biographies and created an original historical tragedy, in which he gave a deep understanding of the problems of state power, the character of a politician, the relationship between the philosophical views of a politician and his practical actions, problems of morality and politics, personality and people. Referring to the historical conflicts of the 1st century BCE in Julia Caesar. BC, when the transition from republican rule to a regime of autocracy was taking place in Rome, Shakespeare also had in mind the socio-political conflicts in contemporary England, where the isolated position of feudal lords was replaced by absolutist power.

Shakespeare sympathizes with the Republicans, showing their valiant service to society, but at the same time recognizes that the Caesarians are acting in accordance with the requirements of the times. Brutus's attempts to restore the republic are doomed to failure, as he acts contrary to the dictates of the times. He agrees to the murder of Caesar because he sees in him the main enemy of the republic. But Brutus fails to convince the people of the good of republican rule, since the people, in accordance with the spirit of the times, support the autocracy regime at that time. The people are ready to recognize Brutus as ruler, but they want to see in him a new, better Caesar. The voice of the people is tragically at odds with what Brutus is striving for; the people say: "let him become Caesar," "in him we will crown all the best of Caesar." Convinced that the republic is doomed, Brutus commits suicide.

If in the chronicles the people were one of the active forces, one of the many heroes, then in Julia Caesar the people for the first time in Shakespeare's dramas become the main character. Both the Republicans and the Caesarians are forced to reckon with him. Especially expressive is the image of the people in the scene of the political dispute between the Republicans and the Caesarians at the forum over the corpse of the just killed Caesar. This dispute is resolved by the people, who take the side of the Caesarian Mark Antony. The tragedy "Julius Caesar" testifies to Shakespeare's deep penetration into socio-historical contradictions, into the tragic conflicts of society.

In the second period of creativity, significant changes took place in Shakespeare's worldview. They were determined by the attitude of the playwright to the new phenomena of the socio-political life of English society. The absolutist government was increasingly revealing its corruption and losing its progressive significance. Contradictions between the parliament and Queen Elizabeth emerged. With the coming to power of James I Stuart (1603), a reactionary feudal regime was established in the country. The contradictions between parliament and royalty deepened even further. The masses of the people found themselves in distress. The crisis of the feudal-absolutist system and the discrepancy between the Stuart policy and the interests of the bourgeoisie caused the growth of bourgeois opposition to absolutism. The preconditions for a bourgeois revolution are emerging in the country.

In these conditions, Shakespeare departs from the belief in an ideal monarch. The critical pathos of his work is growing. Shakespeare opposes both feudal reaction and bourgeois egoism.

The cheerful, sunny, carnival character of many works of the first period of creativity is replaced by heavy meditations over the trouble in the life of society, over the unsettled world. The new period of Shakespeare's work is characterized by the formulation of large social, political, philosophical problems, a deep analysis of the tragic conflicts of the era and the tragedy of the personality of the transition period. This was the period of the creation of great tragedies, in which Shakespeare conveyed the historical nature of the tragic collisions and catastrophes that arose in the era of the collapse of the patriarchal-knightly world and the arrival of cynical predators on the arena of history, representing the new capitalist relations.

The second period of Shakespeare's creativity opens with the tragedy "Hamlet" (Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 1600-1601). The sources of the tragedy were The History of the Danes by Saxon Grammar, The Tragic Tales of Belfort, The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kid and Thomas Kid's play about Hamlet that has not come down to us.

In different eras, Shakespeare's "Hamlet" was perceived differently. Famous is the point of view of Goethe, expressed by him in the novel "The Study Years of Wilhelm Meister" (1795-1796). Goethe viewed the tragedy as purely psychological. In the character of Hamlet, he emphasized the weakness of will, which did not correspond to the great deed entrusted to him.

VG Belinsky in the article “Hamlet, Shakespeare's Drama. Mochalov as Hamlet ”(1838) expresses a different view. Hamlet, according to VG Belinsky, conquers the weakness of his will, and therefore the main idea of ​​the tragedy is not the weakness of the will, but "the idea of ​​disintegration due to doubt", the contradiction between dreams of life and life itself, between ideal and reality. Belinsky examines the inner world of Hamlet in the making. The weakness of the will, therefore, is regarded as one of the moments of the spiritual development of Hamlet, a man who is naturally strong. Using the image of Hamlet to characterize the tragic situation of thinking people in Russia in the 1830s, Belinsky criticized reflection that destroyed the integrity of an active personality.

I.S. Turgenev in the 60s of the XIX century. appeals to the image of Hamlet in order to give a socio-psychological and political assessment of the "Hamletism" of "superfluous people". In his article "Hamlet and Don Quixote" (1860), Turgenev presents Hamlet as an egoist, a skeptic who doubts everything, does not believe in anything and therefore is not capable of doing business. Unlike Hamlet, Don Quixote in Turgenev's interpretation is an enthusiast, a servant of an idea who believes in truth and fights for it. IS Turgenev writes that thought and will are in a tragic break; Hamlet is a thinking man, but weak-willed, Don Quixote is a strong-willed enthusiast, but half-insane; if Hamlet is useless to the masses, then Don Quixote inspires the people to work. At the same time, Turgenev admits that Hamlet is close to Don Quixote for his intransigence to evil, that people perceive the seeds of thought from Hamlet and spread them all over the world.

In Soviet literary criticism, a deep interpretation of the tragedy "Hamlet" was given in the works of A.A. Anikst, A.A. Smirnov, R.M.Samarin, I.E. Vertsman, L.E. Pinsky, Yu.F. Shvedov and others . * * See: A.A. Anikst. Shakespeare's work. - M., 1963; its the same. Shakespeare: The Craft of a Playwright. - M., 1974; Smirnov A.A. Shakespeare. - L .; M., 1963; Samarin P.M. Shakespeare's realism. - M., 1964; Vertsman I.E. Shakespeare's Hamlet. - M., 1964; Pinsky L.E. Shakespeare: Basic Principles of Drama. - M., 1971; Yu.F. Shvedov The evolution of Shakespeare's tragedy. -M., 1975.

A student at the University of Wittenberg, Hamlet feels lonely at the court of the Danish king Claudius in Elsinore. Denmark looks like a prison to him. Already at the beginning of the tragedy, a conflict was identified between the humanist thinker Hamlet and the immoral world of Claudius, between a freedom-loving personality and an absolutist power. Hamlet perceives the world tragically. The prince deeply understands what is happening in Elsinore. He interprets the conflicts at the court of Claudius as a state of peace. The intellect of Hamlet, his wise aphoristic judgments reveal the essence of relations in the society of that time. In Hamlet, as the tragedy of a thinking person in an unjust society, the hero's intellect is poeticized. The reason of Hamlet is opposed to the unreasonableness and obscurantism of the despotic Claudius.

Hamlet's moral ideal is humanism, from the standpoint of which social evil is condemned. The Phantom's words about the crime of Claudius served as the impetus for the beginning of Hamlet's struggle against social evil. The prince is determined to take revenge on Claudius for the murder of his father. Claudius sees Hamlet as his main antagonist, so he orders his courtiers Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. The shrewd Hamlet unravels all the tricks of the king, who tried to find out about his plans and destroy him. The Soviet literary critic LE Pinsky calls Hamlet a tragedy of knowledge of life: “... A hero, active by nature, does not perform the expected act, because he knows his world perfectly. This is a tragedy of consciousness, awareness ... "*

* Pinsky L.E. Shakespeare: Basic Principles of Drama. - S. 129.

Hamlet's tragic worldview, his philosophical reflections are caused not so much by what happened in Elsinore (the murder of Hamlet's father and the marriage of his mother Queen Gertrude with Claudius), as by the consciousness of the general injustice prevailing in the world. Hamlet sees a sea of ​​evil and reflects in his famous monologue "To be or not to be" about how a person should act when faced with rot in society. The monologue "To Be or Not to Be" reveals the essence of Hamlet's tragedy - both in his relation to the external world and in his internal world. Before Hamlet the question arises: how to act at the sight of the abyss of evil - to accept or to fight?

To be or not to be - that is the question; What is nobler - to submit in spirit to the Slings and arrows of a fierce fate, Or, taking up arms on the sea of ​​turmoil, to slay them with Confrontation? (Translated by M. Lozinsky)

Hamlet cannot submit to evil; he is ready to fight against the cruelty and injustice reigning in the world, but he realizes that he will perish in this struggle. Hamlet has the idea of ​​suicide as a way to end "melancholy and a thousand natural torments," however, suicide is not an option, since evil remains in the world and on the human conscience ("This is the difficulty; what kind of dreams will one have in a death dream ..." ). Then Hamlet speaks of social evil, which arouses indignation in an honest and humane person:

Who would take down the whips and mockery of the century, The oppression of the strong, the mockery of a proud man, The pain of despicable love, slowness of judges, The arrogance of the authorities and insults, Perpetuated by meek merit ...

Reflections on the long-term calamities of mankind, on the sea of ​​evil cause Hamlet to doubt the effectiveness of the methods of struggle that were possible at that time. And doubts lead to the fact that the determination to act for a long time is not realized in the action itself.

Hamlet is a strong-willed, energetic, active nature. With all the forces of his soul, he is directed towards the search for truth, towards the struggle for justice. Hamlet's agonizing thoughts and hesitation is a search for a more correct path in the fight against evil. He hesitates in fulfilling his duty of revenge also because he must finally convince himself and convince others of the guilt of Claudius. To do this, he sets up a "mousetrap" scene: he asks the wandering actors to play a play that could expose Claudius. During the performance, Claudius betrays himself with his confusion. Hamlet becomes convinced of his guilt, but continues to postpone revenge. This causes in him a feeling of dissatisfaction with himself, mental discord.

Hamlet resorts to bloodshed only in exceptional cases, when he cannot but react to obvious evil and baseness. So, he kills Polonius, sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spying on him to death, and then kills Claudius himself. He speaks sharply and cruelly with Ophelia, who loves him, who turned out to be a weapon in the hands of his enemies. But this evil is not intentional, it is from the tension of his consciousness, from confusion in his soul, torn apart by conflicting feelings.

The noble character of Hamlet, a poet and philosopher, seems weak from the point of view of those who stop at nothing to achieve their goals. In fact, Hamlet is a strong man. His tragedy is that he does not know how to change the unjust state of the world, that he realizes the ineffectiveness of the means of struggle that he has, that an honest, thinking person can prove his innocence only at the cost of his death.

The melancholy of Hamlet arises as a consequence of the understanding that “time has gone out of the joints” and is in a state of disorder and trouble. In the composition of the tragedy, the prince's lyric and philosophical monologues occupy an important place, in which a deep awareness of the spirit of the times is expressed.

The general philosophical nature of Hamlet's reflections makes this tragedy close to other eras as well. Hamlet realizes that he will not be able to overcome the evil that reigns in the world; knows that after the death of Claudius, evil will not disappear, for it is contained in the very structure of social life of that time. Meaning those around him, Hamlet says: "Not one of the people pleases me." And at the same time, for Hamlet the humanist, the ideal is a beautiful human personality: “What a masterful creation - a man! How noble in reason! How unlimited in his abilities, guises and movements! How precise and wonderful in action! How he resembles an angel in deep comprehension! How he looks like a certain god! The beauty of the universe! The crown of all living! " Hamlet sees the embodiment of this ideal in his father and in his friend Horatio.

The development of the plot in the tragedy is largely determined by the feigned madness of the prince. What is the meaning of Hamlet's seemingly insane actions and statements? To act in the insane world of Claudius, Hamlet is forced to put on a mask of insanity. In this role, he does not need to be hypocritical and lie, he speaks the bitter truth. The mask of madness corresponds to the prince's mental disorder, impulsiveness of his actions, insane courage in the struggle for truth under the tyranny of Claudius.

A tragic accident plays an important role in the plot. In the finale of the tragedy, an accumulation of accidents is given - the heroes participating in the duel change with rapiers, a glass with a poisoned drink goes to the wrong person, etc. The tragic outcome is approaching with inexorable inevitability. But it comes in an unexpected form and at an unforeseen time. The unreasonableness of the social structure confuses both reasonable and reckless plans and causes the tragic inevitability of "accidental punishments, unexpected murders."

Hamlet hesitates in fulfilling his duty, but he is ready to act at any moment, and in the final scene for him "readiness is everything." Hamlet is a heroic personality. He is ready to fight against evil and to establish the truth even at the cost of his own death. It is no coincidence that after all the tragic events of the deceased Hamlet, at the behest of Fortinbras, they are buried with military honors. Before his death, Hamlet expresses the wish that people know about his life and struggle. He asks Horatio to reveal to the world the reasons for the tragic events, to tell the story of the Prince of Denmark.

Hamlet is a realistic tragedy reflecting the complexity of the time when Renaissance humanism entered a period of crisis. The tragedy itself expresses the idea of ​​the need for an objective depiction of life. In a conversation with actors, Hamlet expresses views on art that are quite consistent with Shakespeare's aesthetic positions. First of all, they reject the flashy effects of those who are ready to “re-exterminate Herod”; it is proposed to conform "action with speech, speech with action" and "not to overstep the simplicity of nature"; the essence of art is formulated; "To hold, as it were, a mirror in front of nature, to show the virtues of its own features, arrogance - its appearance, and to every age and class - its likeness and imprint."

The main historical collision of the late 16th century. - the conflict between the world of knightly heroics and the crime of absolutist power - is accordingly embodied in the images of two brothers, the father of Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet admires his hero-father and hates the hypocritical, insidious Claudius and everything that stands behind him, i.e. a world of vile intrigues and general corruption.

The tragedy "Othello" (Othello, the Moor of Venice, 1604) is based on the novella "The Moor of Venice" by Geraldi Chintio. The story of love and the tragic death of Othello and Desdemona is shown by Shakespeare against a broad social background. The tragedy features representatives of the state power of Venice - the Doge, senators Brabantio, Graziano, Lodovico; depicts the military environment - Iago, Cassio, Montano. Against this background, the fate of Othello and Desdemona acquires a deep socio-psychological meaning.

Moor Othello is an outstanding personality. Thanks to his valor, he achieved a high position in society, became a Venetian commander, general. The life of this warrior was full of dangers, he had to see a lot and endure a lot. Othello emerged from all the trials as a brave and courageous man, retaining the purity and ardor of feelings. It embodies the Renaissance ideal of a beautiful person. The noble Moor is intelligent and active, brave and honest. For this, the daughter of Venetian Senator Desdemona fell in love with him:

I fell in love with her with my fearlessness, She fell in love with me - with her sympathy. (Per. B. Pasternak)

The love of Othello and Desdemona was a heroic challenge to traditional institutions. This love was based on deep understanding and trust.

Desdemona's character is akin to that of Othello. Desdemona is also characterized by fearlessness and gullibility. For the sake of her beloved, she escapes from home and leaves Venice when Othello is appointed governor of Cyprus. Othello calls her his "wonderful warrior." In the captivating appearance of Desdemona, courage is combined with tenderness. But if Desdemona remains a harmonious and whole person to the end, then Othello let "chaos" into his soul, and this caused a catastrophe. Desdemona maintains confidence in Othello; but his confidence is shaken under the influence of the intrigues of the low and insidious Iago.

Not knowing how to explain the reason that Othello has changed towards her, Desdemona understands that this reason is not jealousy. She says:

Othello is clever and does not look like jealous vulgar ...

And when the servant Emilia asks Desdemona if Othello is jealous, she confidently answers:

Of course not. Tropical sun All these imperfections burned out in him.

Desdemona, like no one else, understands the soul of Othello. Indeed, jealousy rises in Othello not as a consequence of suspicion, vindictiveness or ambition, but as a manifestation of a feeling of betrayed trust, offended dignity. By tragic irony, Othello believes that the culprit of the feeling of deceived trust that has arisen is not Iago, who deceived the trusting Moor with his machinations, but the pure and loyal to him Desdemona. Othello says about himself:

He was not easily jealous, but in a storm of feelings Fell into a rage ...

A.S. Pushkin thus characterized Othello: "Othello is not by nature jealous - on the contrary: he is trusting."

Othello loves Desdemona dearly, even when he decides to kill her. He thinks he is doing justice, doing duty. Believing in Iago's slander, he believes that he cannot allow Desdemona to deceive others. He is filled with a sense of a high duty to people: the murder of Desdemona means for him the elimination of lies as a universal danger. The tragedy of Othello is a tragedy of betrayed trust, a tragedy of being blinded by passion. Love for her determined Othello's attitude to people, to the world. When their union was harmonious, Othello perceived the world as beautiful; when he believed in Desdemona's dishonesty, everything appeared before him in a gloomy chaotic form.

Honest Othello becomes a victim of Iago's evil intrigues, not realizing that he is deceiving him. Shakespeare does not point directly to the reasons for Iago's hatred of Othello, although Iago speaks of his desire to achieve a career, of jealousy for Othello, of his lustful feelings for Desdemona. The main thing in the character of Iago is the Machiavellian desire to achieve advantages over other people at any cost. Iago, of course, is smart and active, but his abilities, his "valor" are completely subordinated to his egoistic plans. Iago's "valor" is individualistic and immoral. He formulates his main interest as follows: "Fill your wallet tighter." Intriguer Iago is cynical and hypocritical. His hatred of Othello is explained by the fundamental difference between their natures, their views, and their attitude to life. Othello's nobility is a denial of Iago's bourgeois egocentrism. Therefore, he cannot come to terms with the assertion of the ethical principles of Othello in life. Iago resorts to vile means to push the straightforward Othello from his noble life path, in order to plunge him into the chaos of individualistic passions.

Shakespeare the realist showed how a person can go, freed from feudal bonds. A person could become bright and morally beautiful, like the heroic figure of Othello, or base, immoral, like the cynic Iago. Moral inferiority turns the freedom of the individual into its opposite, i.e. into slavish dependence on dark passions and selfish interests. Iago acts against Othello and Desdemona through slander and deception. He takes advantage of Othello's gullibility, plays on the hero's ardent temperament, on his ignorance of the mores of society. The rapid transition of the noble Othello from heroism to being blinded by dark passion testifies to the fact that the spirit-free Renaissance personality was vulnerable, because the level of social relations of that time did not allow the humanistic ideal of personality to be fully realized in reality. Shakespeare showed this tragedy of a valiant person who found herself drawn into the real base relations of bourgeois society and was unable to protect herself from dark passion.

The episode of "recognition" reveals the hero's human dignity, his moral greatness. With emotional glee, Othello learns that Desdemona loved him and was faithful to him, but at the same time he is shocked that the worst thing happened: he killed the innocent and devoted to him Desdemona. Othello's suicide in the final scene is a punishment for oneself for deviating from faith in a person. The tragic finale thus affirms the moral victory of nobility over the dark forces of evil.

The conflict between personality and society in a new aspect is shown in the tragedy "King Lear" (King Lear, 1605-1606). It is a tragedy of human dignity in an unjust society.

The essence and evolution of Lear's character was very accurately defined by N. Dobrolyubov: “Lear has a really strong nature, and general subservience to him only develops it in a one-sided way - not to great deeds of love and common good, but solely to satisfy his own, personal whims. This is perfectly understandable in a person who is used to considering himself the source of all joy and sorrow, the beginning and end of all life in his kingdom. Here, with the external scope of action, with the ease of fulfilling all desires, there is nothing to express his spiritual strength. But his self-adoration goes beyond any limits of common sense: he transfers directly to his personality all that brilliance, all the respect that he enjoyed for his rank; he decides to throw off the power, confident that even after that people will not stop trembling with him. This insane conviction makes him give up his kingdom to his daughters and through that, from his barbarously senseless position, go into the simple title of an ordinary person and experience all the sorrows associated with human life. " “Looking at him, we first feel hatred for this dissolute despot; but, following the development of the drama, we more and more come to terms with him as a man and end up being filled with indignation and burning anger no longer for him, but for him and for the whole world - to that wild, inhuman situation that can lead to such the debauchery of even people like Lear ”**.

* Dobrolyubov N.A. Sobr. cit .: In 9 volumes - M; L., 1962.T. 5. - S. 52.

** Ibid. - S. 53.

"King Lear" is a social tragedy. It shows the demarcation of different social groups in society. Lear, Gloucester, Kent, Albany are the representatives of the old knightly honor; the world of bourgeois predation is represented by Goneril, Regan, Edmond, Cornwall. A sharp struggle is going on between these worlds. Society is in a state of deep crisis. Gloucester characterizes the destruction of social foundations in the following way: “Love cools, friendship weakens, fratricidal strife is everywhere. There are riots in the cities, in the villages of strife, in the palaces of treason, and the family bond between parents and children is crumbling ... Our best time has passed. Violence, betrayal, disastrous riots will accompany us to the grave ”(translated by B. Pasternak).

Against this broad social backdrop, the tragic story of King Lear unfolds. At the beginning of the play, Lear is a king with power, commanding the fate of people. Shakespeare in this tragedy (where he penetrates deeper than in his other plays into the social relations of the time) showed that Lear's power is not in his kingship, but in the fact that he owns wealth and lands. As soon as Lear divided his kingdom between the daughters of Goneril and Regan, retaining only kingship, he lost his power. Without his possessions, the king found himself in the position of a beggar. The possessiveness in society has destroyed patriarchal kinship human relations. Goneril and Regan swore their love for their father when he was in power, and turned away from him when he lost his possessions.

After going through tragic trials, through a storm in his own soul, Lear becomes a man. He learned the hard lot of the poor, joined the life of the people and understood what was happening around him. King Lear gains wisdom. An important role in the emergence of a new outlook on the world was played by a meeting in the steppe, during a storm, with a poor homeless poor Tom. (It was Edgar Gloucester, hiding from the persecution of his brother Edmond.) In Lear's shaken mind, society appears in a new light, and he subjects it to merciless criticism. Lear's madness becomes an epiphany. Lear sympathizes with the poor and condemns the rich:

Homeless, naked wretches, Where are you now? How will you reflect the blows of this fierce weather - In rags, with an uncovered head And a skinny belly? How little I thought about it before! Here's a lesson for you, arrogant rich man! Take the place of the poor, Feel what they feel, And give them a part of your excess As a sign of the highest justice of heaven. (Per. B. Pasternak)

Lear speaks indignantly about a society where arbitrariness prevails. Power appears to him in the form of a symbolic image of a dog chasing a beggar who runs away from him. Lear calls the judge a thief, a politician who pretends that he understands what others do not understand is a scoundrel.

The noble Kent and the Fool remain faithful to Lyru to the end. The image of the jester plays a very important role in this tragedy. His witticisms, paradoxical jokes boldly reveal the essence of relations between people. The tragicomic jester speaks the bitter truth; in his witty remarks, the popular point of view on what is happening is expressed.

The storyline, connected with the fate of the Earl of Gloucester, the father of two sons, sets off the fate of Lear, gives it a generalizing meaning. Gloucester is also experiencing the tragedy of ingratitude. His illegitimate son Edmond opposes him.

The humanistic ideal is embodied in the image of Cordelia. She does not accept both the old knightly world and the new world of the Machiavellians. In her character, the sense of human dignity is emphasized with special force. Unlike her hypocritical sisters, she is sincere and truthful, does not fear the despotic disposition of her father and tells him what she thinks. Despite the restraint in the manifestation of feelings, Cordelia truly loves her father and courageously accepts his disfavor. Subsequently, when Lear, having gone through severe trials, gained human dignity and a sense of justice, Cordelia was next to him. These two wonderful people are dying in a cruel society.

At the end of the tragedy, good triumphs over evil. The noble Edgar will become the king. As a ruler, he will turn to the wisdom that Lear acquired in his tragic destiny.

The tragedy "Macbeth" (Macbeth, 1606), which was created on the basis of the "Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland" by R. Holinshed, is devoted to the problem of the tragic state of the state and the individual under a tyrannical regime.

Macbeth is a tyrant and a murderer. But he did not immediately become that way. The image is revealed in development, in dynamics, in all the complexity and contradictions of its inner world. The struggle between remorse and ambitious motives in Macbeth's soul, the realization in the end of the senselessness of his bloody deeds - all this distinguishes him from an ordinary villain and makes him a tragic character.

In the first act, Macbeth appears as a hero in a magnificent scene of victory over the enemies of Scotland. This is a strong, brave, courageous warrior. Macbeth is kind by nature and not devoid of humanity. He achieved fame through his exploits. Confidence in his strengths and the capabilities of his nature causes him to desire to become even more majestic, to achieve even greater glory. However, the social structure of that time set limits to the development of personality, perverted the boundless abilities of a person. So, the prowess of Macbeth turns into ambition, and ambition pushes him to a crime - the murder of Duncan in order to achieve supreme power. The perversion of valor by ambition is very correctly characterized by the words of the witches from the first scene of the tragedy: "The beautiful is vile, and the vile is beautiful." In the actions of Macbeth, the line between good and evil is increasingly blurred.

The images of disgusting witches, predicting the future fate of Macbeth, symbolize the inhuman that was in his intentions and deeds. Witches do not represent any fatal force guiding the hero's behavior. They express exactly what has already arisen in the thoughts of Macbeth. Macbeth's criminal decisions are determined by his own will, not by fatal power. Criminal actions are pushing more and more to the degeneration of the personality. From a kind and valiant man, Macbeth becomes a murderer and tyrant. One crime entails another. Macbeth can no longer refuse to kill, seeking to retain the throne:

I am so stuck in a bloody mud, That it will be easier for me to step forward, Than to turn back in the quagmire. My terrible plan will still be born in my brain, And my hand seeks to accomplish it. (Translated by Y. Korneev)

As Macbeth's despotism becomes apparent to everyone, he finds himself completely alone. All recoiled from the tyrant.

Through crimes, Macbeth wants to change fate, to interfere with the course of time. He is already afraid of missing something and incessant bloody deeds tries to get ahead of the actions of his alleged opponents. The tyrant makes his way to his “tomorrow” with the help of crimes, and “tomorrow” pushes him more and more towards the inevitable end. The tyrant's atrocities provoke opposition. The whole society is rising up against the despot. It seems to Macbeth that the forces of nature also went against him - the Birnam forest is going to Dunsinan. These are the warriors of Macduff and Malcolm, hiding behind green branches, moving in an irresistible avalanche against Macbeth and crushing him. One of the characters in the tragedy, the Scottish nobleman Ross, says this about the essence of lust for power:

About lust for power, You devour what you live!

By speaking out against humanity, Macbeth dooms himself to complete isolation, loneliness and death. Lady Macbeth is fanatically devoted to her husband, whom she considers a great man. She is as ambitious as he is. She wants Macbeth to become king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is determined to achieve power and supports her husband, helping him overcome moral doubt when he plans to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth thinks that it is enough to wash the blood off her hands and the crime will be forgotten. However, her human nature can not stand it, and she goes crazy. In her insane, somnambulistic state, she tries to wash the blood off her hands and cannot. On the day of her husband's death, Lady Macbeth commits suicide.

Compared to other Shakespearean tragedies, the tragic atmosphere in Macbeth is very thick. It is intensified in connection with the development of the theme of coming to power through crime. The action becomes more concise, concentrated and impetuous; it usually occurs at night and against the backdrop of a storm; a great place is occupied by the supernatural element (witches, visions), playing the role of ominous forebodings and omens. However, in the end, the darkness dissipates, humanity triumphs over evil.

Shakespeare's tragedies are characterized by a deep penetration into the essence of the tragic contradictions of their time. In Shakespeare's drama, the socio-political conflicts of the Renaissance are surprisingly faithfully reflected. The deepest changes in life associated with a gigantic upheaval in history, when feudalism was replaced by a new bourgeois system - this is the basis of the tragic in Shakespeare. Shakespeare's historicism is in comprehending the main tendencies of the real struggle unfolding between the old and the new, in revealing the tragic meaning of social relations of that time. For all his naive and poetic view of the world, Shakespeare was able to show the importance of the people in the life of society.

Shakespeare's poetic historicism introduced new content into the tragic theme, rebuilt the tragic as an aesthetic problem, giving it new, distinctive qualities. The tragic in Shakespeare differs from the medieval concepts of the tragic, from Chaucer's view of the tragic, expressed in the "Canterbury Tales" ("The Prologue of the Monk" and "The Tale of the Monk"). According to the medieval idea, a tragedy could happen to people of a high position, living in happiness and forgetting about the power of providence. Such people are subject to the whims of fortune, regardless of their character, from their merits and demerits. Their very high position was the cause of pride, so the disaster was always close. According to medieval beliefs, fortune brought down misfortunes on a person completely unexpectedly and without reason. Before the wisdom of providence, man is helpless, and no one is able to avoid the blows of fate. The medieval concept of the tragic proceeded not from the character of a person and his collision with fate, but from the belief in the omnipotence of supernatural forces, therefore, in the tragic works of medieval literature, the epic, narrative beginning prevailed over the dramatic.

Shakespeare's tragic is free from the idea of ​​fatalism, rock. And although his characters refer to both God and fortune, Shakespeare shows that people act on the basis of their desires and will, but on the way they face life circumstances, i.e. with the will and desires of other people expressing personal, public and state interests. From the clash between the people themselves, who represent society and humanity, both victories and defeats follow. The tragic is inherent in people themselves, in their struggle and does not depend on fatalistic predestination. The tragic fate of the hero, the inevitability of his death is a consequence of his character and life circumstances. Much develops by chance, but ultimately everything obeys necessity - Time.

The supernatural in Shakespeare's tragedies - ghosts and witches - is more a tribute to folk motives than a manifestation of the playwright's superstition, it is a poetic convention and a kind of technique in portraying characters and forcing a tragic atmosphere. Both Hamlet and Macbeth act according to their own aspirations and will, and not at the behest of supernatural forces. Shakespeare and his characters do not always understand the meaning of tragic events, but it is always clear that they occur according to the laws of causality, according to the harsh laws of time.

Necessity in Shakespeare appears not only as the historical movement of Time, but also as the certainty and indisputability of the natural moral foundations of the life of mankind. In public life, universal humanity is needed. Morality based on human justice is the ideal to which people should strive and violation of which leads to tragic consequences.

Shakespeare's tragic is dialectical. Society can disrupt natural moral relations and lead the heroes to death (Romeo and Juliet), and the hero, due to a number of his negative properties, can do evil and harm society (Macbeth), and at the same time the hero and society can be guilty towards each other ( King Lear). It all depends on the real complexity of the social contradictions of the time and the psychological conflicts of each individual. The struggle between good and evil takes place not only in the public arena, but also in the human soul.

The conflict in Shakespeare's tragedies is extremely tense, acute and irreconcilable, and it unfolds as a clash of two antagonistic forces. In the foreground is the struggle of two strong heroes embodying different characters, different life principles and views, different passions. Hamlet and Claudius, Othello and Iago, Lear and Goneril, Caesar and Brutus — these are these opposing characters that have come into battle. But Shakespeare's noble hero fights not only against some individual antagonist, he enters into a fight with the whole world of evil. This struggle reveals the best spiritual potential of the hero, but it also causes evil. The struggle goes on at the same time in the soul of the hero himself. The hero is painfully seeking truth, truth, justice; the emotional suffering of the hero at the sight of the abyss of evil that opened before him turns out to be truly tragic; but he himself, in search of the truth, somewhere makes a mistake, sometime he comes into contact with evil, hidden under the guise of good, and thereby hastens the tragic denouement.

The actions of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, outstanding people, affect the entire society. The heroes are so significant that each of them is a whole world. And the death of these heroes shocks everyone. Shakespeare creates large and complex characters of active and strong people, people of reason and great passion, valor and high dignity. Shakespeare's tragedies affirm the value of the human person, the uniqueness and individuality of a person's character, the wealth of his inner world. The life of the human soul, experiences and suffering, the inner tragedy of man interests Shakespeare first of all. And this also affected his innovation in the field of the tragic. The depiction of the inner world of the heroes reveals their humanity so deeply that it causes admiration and deep sympathy for them.

A number of Shakespeare's heroes - Macbeth, Brutus, Antony (Antony and Cleopatra) - are guilty of their tragedy. But the notion of guilt is incompatible with many noble heroes. The fact that young Romeo and Juliet are dying is to blame for a society hostile to sincere and whole human feelings. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear had mistakes and delusions that did not change the moral basis of their noble characters, but in the world of evil and injustice led to tragic consequences. Only in this sense can one speak of their “tragic guilt”. Together with these heroes, completely pure natures suffer and die, such as Ophelia, Cordelia, Desdemona.

In the resulting catastrophe, the real perpetrators of evil perish, and those who bear the "tragic guilt" and those who are completely innocent. Shakespeare's tragedy is far from that "poetic justice" which is contained in a simple rule: vice is punished, virtue triumphs. Evil ultimately punishes itself, but good experiences tragic suffering, immeasurably greater than the hero's mistake deserves.

Shakespeare's tragic hero is active and capable of moral choice. He feels responsible for his actions. If circumstances, society contradict the ideals of morality and violate them, then the moral choice of the heroes is in the struggle against circumstances; in irreconcilability to evil, even if it leads to their own destruction. This was most clearly manifested in Hamlet.

The episode of "recognition", the realization of error and guilt, the epiphany before death is saturated in the tragedies of Shakespeare with the most intense emotions of the heroes and the most important moral ideas. This episode is characterized by deep ideological and psychological content. The episode of "recognition" is important in tragedy as a triumph of moral principles of truth and goodness, as a result of the inner struggle and suffering that the hero experienced. This episode illuminates the hero's whole life with new light, affirms the greatness of the human spirit and the importance of the moral foundations of life.

The characters of the villains in Shakespeare's plays also differ in personality. They have a will, a mind, which actively serve insidious and ambitious designs. These villains are the embodiment of a real phenomenon of the era - Machiavellianism. Free reason appears in them in an extremely individualistic form, as an effective pursuit of selfish goals. Shakespeare's villains are by no means conventional figures of abstract evil, they discern the concrete and typical evil of the bourgeois system. Envy, anger and hatred are the main characters of the villains. But Shakespeare did not try to portray them as the fiend of hell. Villains are also people, but for various reasons they have lost their humanity. Sometimes it wakes up in them to emphasize the futility of their existence, devoid of moral principles (Edmond, Lady Macbeth).

Shakespeare expressed a humanistic faith in the kindness and nobility of man, in his indomitable spirit and creative energy. He affirmed human dignity and the greatness of human achievements. From all catastrophes and troubles, human nature comes out invincible. Shakespeare's true humanism is his optimism. This optimism was not beautiful-minded, since Shakespeare was aware of the power of evil and the misfortunes that it brings. The optimism of Shakespeare's tragedies is in the triumph over despair and in the powerful faith in the victory of man over social evil.

The versatility of the depiction of life and the depiction of characters is invariably revealed in the combination and interpenetration of the tragic and the comic. This was the innovation of Shakespeare, the discovery of a new way in the depiction of man and society.

Shakespeare was also an innovator in the plot and compositional structure of tragedies. In his tragedies, a second storyline appears. Subplots create an impression of the versatility of life and a wide coverage of reality. The technique of parallelism of characters and plot lines, used for the purpose of comparisons, contrasts, is supplemented in Shakespeare's tragedies with images of nature. The confusion in the souls of the heroes, the tragic struggle of passions, reaching the highest tension, are often accompanied by a storm in nature ("King Lear", "Macbeth").

The complexity of the structure, the free course of events in Shakespeare's tragedies in many ways anticipate the poetics of the novel of the 19th and 20th centuries. Saturation with action, drama of characters, mysteriousness of events, panoramic depiction of history, freedom in time and space, bright contrast - all these features of Shakespeare's tragedies find further development in the genre of the novel.

In the last, third, period of creativity Shakespeare remains faithful to the ideals of humanism, although he no longer had any illusions about the humanism of the new capitalist order. Not finding embodiment in life, the ideals of humanism in Shakespeare's creative fantasy took the form of a dream about the future, about a wonderful new world. This dream, in the absence of the possibility of realizing it in reality, was embodied in the form of fantastic elements, pastoral scenes and allegories characteristic of the work of Shakespeare of the last period. The artistic method of The Winter's Tale and The Tempest is deeply logical, aesthetically necessary and is a further step in the evolution of Shakespeare's work.

"Pericles", "Cymbelin", "Winter's Tale", "The Tempest" represent a new aesthetic quality. They merge the genre features of tragicomedy, pastoral drama and allegory. In the dramas of the third period, Shakespeare turns to the mixing of fantasy with reality, to folk motifs, to fairy tales and utopian situations, to picturesque scenes unfolding against the background of nature. In the later tragicomedies of Shakespeare, the lyric-heroic principle dominates, the romance of exceptional events. These plays are characterized by the theme of opposition between society and nature, cruel court customs and idyllic rural life. However, a break with society is here a form of moral and ethical criticism of this society, and not a call to flee from it. It is no coincidence that the heroes return to society to continue the fight against evil.

In the spirit of folk poetry, the tragicomedy The Winter's Tale (1610-1611) is written, which condemns the despotism of kings and poeticizes the kindness of the villagers. The Sicilian king Leon, who enjoys unlimited power, decided to cruelly deal with his wife Hermione, jealous of her to the Bohemian king Polyxenus. He arranges a trial over the innocent Hermione, wanting to destroy her along with her child. Hermione is hiding with Paulina, sharply condemning Leonte's despotism. Loss, daughter of Leontes. Loss, daughter of Leontes. and Hermione, finds shelter in Bohemia with an old shepherd, who becomes her named father. King Polixenus's son Prince Florizel fell in love with the loss. Neglecting class differences, Florizel wants to marry Loss. When Polixenes refuses to consent to this marriage, Florizel and Loss leave Bohemia. The ideal of the equality of people is affirmed in the words of Loss that above the shack and the door Ortsom the same sun shines in the sky.

Good triumphs over evil in this play. Leon eventually realizes his guilt and regains happiness with Hermione.

Of great importance in the philosophical content of the play is the image of the chorus - Time. In the prologue to the fourth act, commenting on the fate of the play's heroes, Time expresses the idea of ​​development, the idea of ​​incessant changes in the life of society. Time sets the perspective of developing events, puts Hermione's sad story in a certain place in the general flow of history. From the point of view of the eternal laws of development, tragic events are only isolated moments that are overcome, disappear into the past, become a legend. On a historical scale, good inevitably triumphs. In The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare expressed his belief in a wonderful future for humanity.

Shakespeare's dreams of a just society are expressed in the fantastic plot of the tragicomedy The Tempest (1611). Gonzalo, who landed on the island after the shipwreck, dreams of arranging everything here differently than in the Kingdom of Naples. He wants to abolish officials and judges, eliminate poverty and wealth, abolish inheritance rights and land fencing. Thus, Gonzalo seeks to eradicate the evil that reigns in an unjust society. However, Gonzalo also expresses naive wishes: to abolish trade, science and labor and live only on what nature itself gives. In Gonzalo's monologue, the influence of the ideas of Thomas More's "Utopia" is palpable.

Gonzalo's utopian dreams confront a real society where atrocities are committed. Twelve years ago, Antonio seized power in Milan, expelling the legitimate duke, his brother Prospero. Prospero and his daughter Miranda find themselves on an island inhabited by fantastic creatures. However, evil reigns here too. The ugly savage Caliban, a monster born of a witch, taking advantage of the trust of Prospero, who did much good for him, planned to dishonor Miranda. The wizard Prospero conquers Caliban, who embodies the power of dark instincts, and does good deeds with the help of the good spirit of the air Ariel.

The play reveals the conflict between good and evil. The image of the humanist scientist Prospero is the embodiment of good reason and its beneficial effect on people. The wise Prospero transforms people, making them intelligent and beautiful.

Prospero is omnipotent on the island, he is subject to the spirits of mountains, streams, lakes, forests, but he wants to return to his homeland, to Italy, and again plunge into the turbulent life of society, to fight against evil. Shakespeare expressed in The Tempest his love for humanity, admiration for the beauty of man, and faith in the advent of a wonderful new world. The humanist poet places his hope in the minds of future generations who will create a happy life.

In the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” N.A. Dobrolyubov defined Shakespeare's worldwide significance as follows: “Many of his plays can be called discoveries in the field of the human heart; his literary activity pushed the general consciousness of people to several levels, to which no one had risen before him and which were only pointed out from afar by some philosophers. And that is why Shakespeare has such a worldwide significance: it marks several new stages of human development ”*.

* Dobrolyubov N.A. Sobr. cit .: In 9 volumes - M; L. -1963. - T. 6. - S. 309-310.

The characters created by Shakespeare are multifaceted, they combine the beginnings of the tragic and the comic, as it happens in life itself.

Renaissance realism and Shakespeare's work have their own conventional forms. Conventionally, for example, the place of action. The action of Shakespeare's plays may take place in Denmark, Scotland, Sicily, Bohemia, but the playwright always had England in mind, depicting the conflicts, characters and mores of his homeland. Shakespeare's dramas are polyphonic. They combine various poetic elements, different plot motives, and they are revealed in different aspects and variations. Shakespeare's realism often manifests itself in a fairytale-romantic form, in fantastic, allegorical images, in a hyperbolic and metaphorical style, in a pathetic and musical mood, in a spectacular stage form. The most important problem for Shakespeare is the problem of the human character. In the center of the plot of most of Shakespeare's dramas is the personality, which is revealed in the struggle taking place in the present. Shakespeare gives no backstory to his characters. The person in Shakespeare's works is connected with the life of the contemporary playwright of society. A.S. Pushkin spoke about the versatility of Shakespeare's characters: “The faces created by Shakespeare are not, like Moliere's, types of such and such a passion, such and such a vice, but living beings, filled with many passions, many vices; circumstances develop their diverse and versatile characters in front of the viewer ”*.

* Pushkin the critic. - S. 412.

Shakespeare conveyed the national flavor of English reality, the character of English folk culture. No one before him could depict the course of history itself, show the various strata of society in a single dynamic system.

Shakespeare captured in his creations the turning point of the era, the dramatic struggle between the old and the new. His works reflected the movement of history in its tragic contradictions. Shakespeare's tragedy is based on the plot material of history and legend, which reflects the heroic state of the world. But on this legendary and historical material, Shakespeare put forward acute contemporary problems. The role of the people in the life of society, the relationship between the heroic personality and the people are revealed with amazing philosophical depth in the tragedy "Coriolanus" (Coriolanus, 1608). The valiant commander Coriolanus is great when he represents the interests of his native Rome, the interests of the people, winning a victory in Corioli. The people admire their hero, appreciate his courage and straightforwardness. Coriolanus also loves the people, but does not know their life well. The patriarchal consciousness of Coriolanus is not yet capable of embracing the developing social contradictions in society; therefore he does not think about the plight of the people, refuses to give them bread. The people turn away from their hero. In Coriolanus, expelled from society, found himself alone, an inordinate pride awakens, hatred of the plebs; this leads him to betrayal of his fatherland. He opposes Rome, against his people, and thus dooms himself to death.

Shakespeare's nationality lies in the fact that he lived with the interests of his time, was faithful to the ideals of humanism, embodied the ethical principle in his works, drew images from the treasury of folk art, depicted heroes against a wide popular background. In the work of Shakespeare - the origins of the development of drama, lyrics and novels of the new era.

The folk character of Shakespeare's drama is also determined by language. Shakespeare used the richness of the spoken language of the inhabitants of London, gave words new shades, new meaning *. The living folk speech of the heroes of Shakespeare's plays is full of puns. The imagery of language in Shakespeare's plays is achieved by the frequent use of precise, pictorial comparisons and metaphors. Often the speech of the characters, mainly in the plays of the first period, becomes pathetic, which is achieved by the use of eufuisms. Subsequently, Shakespeare opposed the eufuistic style.

* See: M. Morozov Articles about Shakespeare. - M, 1964.

In Shakespeare's plays, poetic speech (blank verse) alternates with prose. Tragic heroes mostly speak in verse, and comic characters, jesters - in prose. But sometimes prose is also found in the speech of tragic heroes. The poems are distinguished by a variety of rhythmic forms (pentameter, six-foot and four-foot iambic, hyphenation of phrases).

The characters' speech is individualized. Hamlet's monologues are of a philosophical and lyrical character; Othello's lyrical speech is characterized by exotic imagery; Osric's speech ("Hamlet") is pretentious. Shakespeare's language is idiomatic and aphoristic. Many Shakespearean expressions have become catchphrases.

Soviet literary criticism regards Shakespeare's work as realistic. The Soviet theater played a huge role in revealing the realistic essence of Shakespeare's works. Soviet translators have also done a lot to assimilate the creative heritage of Shakespeare.

In the works of a number of Soviet Shakespeare scholars the problems of Shakespeare's worldview, the periodization of his work, the theatrical history of his plays, the problems of realism and nationality are posed. Social attention in Soviet Shakespeare was paid to the problem of "Shakespeare and Russian Literature".