作者	J.德雷卡基斯
出版社
出版时间	1998-01-01

特色：

片断：Shake-sceneinacountry'.BythistimeShakespearehadalreadywrittentheHenryVlplays(fromwhichGreenehadquotedinhisinsultingremarks).In1593thenarrativepoemVenusandAdoniswaspublished,anditwasdedicatedtoHenryWriothesley,thethirdEarlofSouthamp-ton.In1594TheRapeofLucrece,anothernarrativepoem,waspub-lishedanddedicatedtothesameperson.Itwasalsoprobablyduringtheperiod1592-4,whentheLondontheatreswereclosedbecauseoftheoutbreaksoftheplague,thatmanyofthesonnetswerewritten,andsomecommentatorshavesuggestedthatWriothesleyisthemysterious'Mr.W.H.'towhomtheywerededicatedwhenthevwereDublishedin1609.By1594ShakespearewasainemoerormecompanyolactorsknownastheLordChamberlain'sMen,whichnumberedamongitsranksactorsliketheclownWilliamKempe,andthefamousRichardBur-bage.Weknowtoothat,inadditiontowritingplaysforthiscompany,Shakespearcalsoactedhimself.Fdrexample,heactedinBenJonson'scomedyEveryManinHisHumonrin1598,aplayhewastorememberwhenhecametowriteOlhello,andlaterinJonson'sSejanus(1603)wherehemayhaveplayedthepartofTiberius.Althoughthereisnoevidenceforit,ithasbeensuggestedthatheplayedtheroleofAdamiHhisownAsYouLikeIt(1598-9),andtheGhostinHamlet(1600-1)TheregularplayhouseoftheLordChamberlain'sMenwasTheTheatre,situatedinShoreditchoutsidethenorthemboundarlesoftheCityofLondon,andwhichhadbeenbuiltbyCuthbertandRichardBurbagein1576,longbeforeShaKespearearrivedinLondon.In1598thisplayhousewasdismantledanditstimberstakenacrosstoSouth-warkonthesouthbankbftheRiverThamesinordertobuildtheGlobeTheatre.ThisisthetheatrewithwhichwemostassociateShakespeare.Heownedatenthshareinthenewenterprise,andwasthusentitledto'receivetenpercentoftheprofits.By1597ShakespearehadmadeenoughmoneytobuythehouseknownasNewPlace,thesecondbiggesthouseinStratford.Thiswasthefirstofanumberofpurchasesoflandwhichhemadeduringtheperiod1597to1605,andrecordsofhisvariousbusinessdealirigsinStratfordstillsurvive.In1596,attheageofeleven,hissonHamnetdied,whilein1601hisfatherJohnalsodied.In1607hiseldestdaughterSusannamarriedJohnHall,andtheymayhavelivedforsometimeinthecottagenowknownasHall'sCroft(whichcurrentlyhousestheStratfordFestivalClub).AfterShakespeare'sdeathin1616theHallsmovedintoNewPlace.By1603,whenQueenElizabeth1died,Shakespearehadwrit.tensometwenty-fourplaysandtheChamberlain'sMenhadbecometheleadingactingcompanyofthetime.Indeed,ithasbeensuggestedthattheplayTheMerryWivesOfWindsor(1600),waswrittenattherequestofElizabethherself.AftertheQueen'sdeaththecompanychangeditsnametotheKing'sMen,andwasinreceiptofthepatronageofthenewking,James1.AyearaftertheKing'saccessipntothethroneOthelloappeared,andwasactedbeforehimattheChristmasfestivitiesofthatyear.Itwasduringtheperiod1600to1607thatShakespearewrotethemajortragedies,beginningwithHamletin1600-1,andendingwithCoriolanusin1607-8.In1608,Shakespeare,alongwithhisbusinessassociatestheBur-bages,JohnHemingesandHenryCondell(wholaterjointlyeditedtheFirstFolioofShakespeare'splaysin1623),ThomasEvans,andWilliamSly,leasedasmallindoortheatreintheCityofLondoncalledBlack-friars.Somecriticshavefeltthatthisnewbuilding,differentinitsstructurefromtheGlobe,playedalargepartinthenoticeablealter-ationofShakespeare'sdramaticstyleatthistime.ItisarguedthatplayslikePericles(1607-8),Cymbeline(1609),TheWinler'sTale(1610),andTheTempest(1611)aretheresultofShakespeare'sartisticresponsetoanewandmoreintimatekindoftheatre.Unfortunatelythisargu-mentdoesnothold,sincethefirstrecordofaperformanceofTheWinter'sTalein1611intimatesthatittookplaceattheGlobe.AlsoitisknownthatoneofShakespeare'sverylastplays,HenryVIII,wasperformedattheGlobebecauseduringanactualperformancethefiringofacannonsetthetheatrealight,andbumedittotheground.After1613Shakespeareseemstohavewrittennomoreplays.HislastfewyearswerespentinretirementinStratford,wherehediedon23April1616.PopularlegendhasitthatShakespearecaughtafeverafteradrinkingboutwithBenJonsonandthepoetMichaelDrayton.Unfortunately,wedonotknowthecircumstancesofhisdeath,buthiswillsurvives,andbiographershavesoughttoinfermuchfromitscontents.Forexample,thebequestofhis'secondbestbedwiththefumiture'tohiswidowAnnehaspromptedspeculationaboutmatri-monialdishannonyintheShakespearehousehold.Buthislatest,andpossiblymostreliable,biographer,ProfessorSamuelSchoenbaum*hassuggestedthatinanyeventAnnewpuldhavebeenentitledtoone-thirdofShakespeare'sestate,andthatthebedmaywellhavehadsenti-mentalassociations.ItseemsmorethanlikelythatthebestbedwasteservedforvisitorstoNewPlace.In1623,somesevenyearsafterShakespeare'sdeath,twoofhisfonnerpartnersJohnHemingesandHenryCondellgatheredtogetherhisplaysinoneimpressivevolume,knownastheFirstFolio.Ofthethirty-fiveplaysthatthisvolumecontainssomesixteenhadneverbeforeappearedinprint.WilllamShakespeareACompactDocumentary.Life,Oxford,1977.