Othello
作者： [英]J.德雷卡基斯(John Drakakis)[注释]
出版社：英国朗文出版公司(北京:世界图书出版公司北京公司,1998重印)
简介：
片断：
Shake-sceneinacountry'.BythistimeShakespearehadalreadywritten
theHenryVlplays(fromwhichGreenehadquotedinhisinsulting
remarks).In1593thenarrativepoemVenusandAdoniswaspublished,
anditwasdedicatedtoHenryWriothesley,thethirdEarlofSouthamp-
ton.In1594TheRapeofLucrece,anothernarrativepoem,waspub-
lishedanddedicatedtothesameperson.Itwasalsoprobablyduring
theperiod1592-4,whentheLondontheatreswereclosedbecauseofthe
outbreaksoftheplague,thatmanyofthesonnetswerewritten,and
somecommentatorshavesuggestedthatWriothesleyisthemysterious
'Mr.W.H.'towhomtheywerededicatedwhenthevwereDublished
in1609.
By1594Shakespearewasainemoerormecompanyolactorsknown
astheLordChamberlain'sMen,whichnumberedamongitsranks
actorsliketheclownWilliamKempe,andthefamousRichardBur-
bage.Weknowtoothat,inadditiontowritingplaysforthiscompany,
Shakespearcalsoactedhimself.Fdrexample,heactedinBenJonson's
comedyEveryManinHisHumonrin1598,aplayhewastoremember
whenhecametowriteOlhello,andlaterinJonson'sSejanus(1603)
wherehemayhaveplayedthepartofTiberius.Althoughthereisno
evidenceforit,ithasbeensuggestedthatheplayedtheroleofAdamiH
hisownAsYouLikeIt(1598-9),andtheGhostinHamlet(1600-1)
TheregularplayhouseoftheLordChamberlain'sMenwasThe
Theatre,situatedinShoreditchoutsidethenorthemboundarlesofthe
CityofLondon,andwhichhadbeenbuiltbyCuthbertandRichard
Burbagein1576,longbeforeShaKespearearrivedinLondon.In1598
thisplayhousewasdismantledanditstimberstakenacrosstoSouth-
warkonthesouthbankbftheRiverThamesinordertobuildtheGlobe
Theatre.ThisisthetheatrewithwhichwemostassociateShakespeare.
Heownedatenthshareinthenewenterprise,andwasthusentitledto
'receivetenpercentoftheprofits.
By1597Shakespearehadmadeenoughmoneytobuythehouse
knownasNewPlace,thesecondbiggesthouseinStratford.Thiswas
thefirstofanumberofpurchasesoflandwhichhemadeduringthe
period1597to1605,andrecordsofhisvariousbusinessdealirigsin
Stratfordstillsurvive.In1596,attheageofeleven,hissonHamnet
died,whilein1601hisfatherJohnalsodied.In1607hiseldestdaughter
SusannamarriedJohnHall,andtheymayhavelivedforsometimein
thecottagenowknownasHall'sCroft(whichcurrentlyhousesthe
StratfordFestivalClub).AfterShakespeare'sdeathin1616theHalls
movedintoNewPlace.
By1603,whenQueenElizabeth1died,Shakespearehadwrit.ten
sometwenty-fourplaysandtheChamberlain'sMenhadbecomethe
leadingactingcompanyofthetime.Indeed,ithasbeensuggestedthat
theplayTheMerryWivesOfWindsor(1600),waswrittenattherequest
ofElizabethherself.AftertheQueen'sdeaththecompanychangedits
nametotheKing'sMen,andwasinreceiptofthepatronageofthenew
king,James1.AyearaftertheKing'saccessipntothethroneOthello
appeared,andwasactedbeforehimattheChristmasfestivitiesofthat
year.Itwasduringtheperiod1600to1607thatShakespearewrotethe
majortragedies,beginningwithHamletin1600-1,andendingwith
Coriolanusin1607-8.
In1608,Shakespeare,alongwithhisbusinessassociatestheBur-
bages,JohnHemingesandHenryCondell(wholaterjointlyeditedthe
FirstFolioofShakespeare'splaysin1623),ThomasEvans,andWilliam
Sly,leasedasmallindoortheatreintheCityofLondoncalledBlack-
friars.Somecriticshavefeltthatthisnewbuilding,differentinits
structurefromtheGlobe,playedalargepartinthenoticeablealter-
ationofShakespeare'sdramaticstyleatthistime.Itisarguedthat
playslikePericles(1607-8),Cymbeline(1609),TheWinler'sTale(1610),
andTheTempest(1611)aretheresultofShakespeare'sartisticresponse
toanewandmoreintimatekindoftheatre.Unfortunatelythisargu-
mentdoesnothold,sincethefirstrecordofaperformanceofThe
Winter'sTalein1611intimatesthatittookplaceattheGlobe.Alsoit
isknownthatoneofShakespeare'sverylastplays,HenryVIII,was
performedattheGlobebecauseduringanactualperformancethe
firingofacannonsetthetheatrealight,andbumedittotheground.
After1613Shakespeareseemstohavewrittennomoreplays.His
lastfewyearswerespentinretirementinStratford,wherehediedon
23April1616.PopularlegendhasitthatShakespearecaughtafever
afteradrinkingboutwithBenJonsonandthepoetMichaelDrayton.
Unfortunately,wedonotknowthecircumstancesofhisdeath,but
hiswillsurvives,andbiographershavesoughttoinfermuchfromits
contents.Forexample,thebequestofhis'secondbestbedwiththe
fumiture'tohiswidowAnnehaspromptedspeculationaboutmatri-
monialdishannonyintheShakespearehousehold.Buthislatest,and
possiblymostreliable,biographer,ProfessorSamuelSchoenbaum*
hassuggestedthatinanyeventAnnewpuldhavebeenentitledtoone-
thirdofShakespeare'sestate,andthatthebedmaywellhavehadsenti-
mentalassociations.Itseemsmorethanlikelythatthebestbedwas
teservedforvisitorstoNewPlace.
In1623,somesevenyearsafterShakespeare'sdeath,twoofhis
fonnerpartnersJohnHemingesandHenryCondellgatheredtogether
hisplaysinoneimpressivevolume,knownastheFirstFolio.Ofthe
thirty-fiveplaysthatthisvolumecontainssomesixteenhadnever
beforeappearedinprint.
WilllamShakespeareACompactDocumentary.Life,Oxford,1977.
