Literature (UDC 82)
DOI: 10.18454/RULB.8.11 Зябко О.Д.
Аспирант, преподаватель, Дальневосточный Федеральный Университет ЛИРИЗМ В ТРАГЕДИИ ШЕКСПИРА "КОРОЛЬ ЛИР"
Аннотация
Данная статья посвящена особенностям проявления лиризма в драматургии Шекспира. Работа нацелена на выявление лирического начала в драмах Шекспира и на раскрытие лирического колорита в трагедии «Король Лир». Анализ средств выражения лирического начала в драме Шекспира позволил выделить комплекс определенных стилевых принципов, закономерностей построения текста, особого типа эмоционального героя, доведенного до безумия, и особого сюжета, через которые выражается лиризм в трагедии Шекспира «Король Лир».
Ключевые слова: Шекспир, "Король Лир", лирическая трагедия, лиризм в драме, лирическое начало, лирический колорит.
Zyabko O.D.
Postgraduate student, teacher, Far Eastern Federal University LYRICISM IN SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGEDY "KING LEAR"
Abstract
This article deals with the peculiarities of lyrical aspects in Shakespeare's drama. The work aims to identify the lyrical beginning in Shakespeare's dramas and to discover the lyrical aspects in "King Lear" tragedy. The analysis of lyrical expression in Shakespeare's drama lets to identify a set of certain stylistic principles, text structures, a special type of an emotional character and a specific type of the plot, through which the lyricism in Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" is expressed.
Keywords: Shakespeare, "King Lear", lyrical tragedy, lyricism in drama, lyrical aspects, lyrical colorism.
Почта авторов / Author Email: [email protected]
It is a well-known fact that Shakespeare is not only a great play-writer but also a delightful poet. Despite the fact that some critics and literary scholars paid attention to the special lyricism of Shakespeare's dramatic works, no one studied lyrical colorism of his dramas, and in particular, no one has explored the lyrical aspects of the his most mature and serious tragedy of Shakespeare — "King Lear". This drama has about 15 translations and interoperations in Russian, and we assume that the interest of translators and poets to this tragedy may be caused by its special emotionality and its heightened lyrical content.
The first mention of Shakespeare's poetic talent that prevailed over the playwright gift was made in 19th century by V. Belinsky who had mentioned that tragedies of Shakespeare have a special lyricism. In his article critic compared Shakespeare's lyricism with a fire and said that his dramatic works are of the highest creative power with a high range of lyricism that emerges through drama. V. Belinsky formed the basis for all further studies of Shakespeare in Russia and all the later interpretations of it in scientific and theater criticism. Until the 19th century Shakespeare was known in Russia only as a play-writer, he was discovered as a poet only in 20th century due to Y. Levin who had explained the role of the famous article by L. Tolstoy and started the study of a lyrical colorism in the works of Shakespeare. Y. Levin has pointed out that Shakespeare does not exist outside of the poetry. Later, in the 20th century, the famous Russian Shakespeare scholar Y. Shvedov said that Shakespeare is a poet and a thinker. These scientists were the first to note the special lyricism inherent to Shakespeare's tragedies.
It is important to understand the difference between the concepts of "poetry" and "lyrics". In general, the poetry relates to literary and artistic works in verse or prose (this interpretation is used in this article). To a certain extent it can be called poetry and art. We can compress all the characteristics and interpretation of the terms "poetry" and "poetic language", concluding in general that broad sense poetry is a work of fiction, written in poetic language (in verse or prose). L. Ginsburg said that lyric is always a talk of
significant, high, beautiful (sometimes contradictory, ironic refraction) something, it's kind of exposure the ideals and values of human life [1]. N. Stepanov gives specific interpretation, he says that lyric is a way or a method of understanding the world in the individual perception of a poet [2]. So, we can say that the lyric is a special kind of poetry that expresses the feelings and emotions, and in a more general sense - it is the collection of works of this type of poetry. G. Pospelov considers lyricism to property arising from the emotional expressiveness of speech and art installation on the author's ideological affirmation of life, embodying the emotional high ground [3]. Summarizing the works devoted to lyric we may say that lyricism is a complex of stylistic principles that cover both the content and form of the work.
Exploring Shakespeare's drama and its lyricism it is important to pay attention to the special elements of Shakespeare's drama, for example, it is necessary to point out that lyrical drama has a special story, a special type of character and distinctive features, which include metaphors and special emotional characters. In such works of play-writing the attention focuses on the inner feelings of heroes, the external development of a secondary role events. In lyrical drama there is a dominating value of monologues over dialogues, it focuses on the inner world of the characters and their pitch and actions are often not very dynamic. A poetic language of Shakespeare's characters shows that their feelings are expressed metaphorically and figuratively. Despite the fact that all the characters of Shakespeare's dramas speak in poetic language it is very important to pay attention that lyricism is not available for his antagonists, their speech is rather rhythmic than poetic, and sometimes even prosaic. But as soon as the lyricism appear, it takes the hero from the negative category and gives him a belief for a spiritual rebirth. At the same time, we come to the conclusion that each monologue of the main characters is similar to separate and independent poem or a sonnet. We also come to a conclusion that unlike all the other Renaissance playwrights, whose comic and tragic works are often
intertwined, in Shakespeare's dramas these contradictions are removed, perhaps because of the lyrical comprehension, there is a special connection with the lyrical drama. In Shakespeare's plays lyricism and action merge in a special way, and the lyrics are included into drama in a special form of a sonnet, which becomes the inner form of Shakespeare's drama.
Lyrical aspects may also be considered to psychological and emotional characteristics of the tragedy. It is obvious that in "King Lear" a greater attention is paid to the internal processes of the main hero who is in search of the answers for the philosophical and eternal questions. Lear, who is a protagonist of the tragedy becomes a psychological character; his monologues are increasingly important and Shakespeare even reflects Lear's inner speech, telling about the dreams, visions, observations of nature and phenomena. At this stage, the playwright draws a person being in a situation of conflict with the outside world; person whose worldview is faced with established social ideology departing from traditional notions of class. The experience through which the hero overcomes, generate internal contradictions in his mind and overcoming them, he discovers new horizons and answers to the questions. Shakespeare shows the inner world of consciousness of the hero, who is in search of truth, the world of his feelings and emotions, his philosophy of life that allows to define this text a psychological. The high level of emotionality and psychology in that work is also may be considered as a manifestation of a special lyricism in "King Lear" tragedy.
There is one interesting thing about Shakespeare's dramas in general and the "King Lear" in a particular, we can conclude that the lyricism of the tragedy is expressed, among other things, also through the protagonist's madness. A very important role in the tragedy is given to the madness of Lear. A storm in which he falls, the Jester he talks to and the mad Tom are very important, the most significant words in the tragedy belong to their frantic monologues and dialogues. Through the madness Lear overcomes himself, discovers the truth and rebirths. Shakespeare deliberately makes his protagonists mad, the same applies to such characters as Mad Tom and the Jester, they both are significant and important.
We believe that a greatplaywright overshadows the mind of his characters for the reason that it raises the mighty stream of lyrical outpourings (that is what he does with Lear). And this is why the lyricism reaches its greater or lesser height and depth.
Speaking about the poetic power of "King Lear" it is important to mention M. Meaterlinck who calls "King Lear" a dramatic poem, the most powerful, exciting, intense and extensive of all ever written [5]. The scope of this tragedy is really unstoppable, it is wider and more energetic than any other dramas. It is deep and broad, it is a universal human story, but yet grand in tension effect. Its lyricism is more discreet, more natural, closer to reality, and at the same time hallucinates overflowing. According to M. Maeterlinck's "King Lear" internally is the most lyrical tragedy of all the times. We also consider Shakespeare as an artist capable to compensate any decoration on the scene with a poetic word. Poetry serves to a playwright as the most effective means to overcome difficulties and to awaken the power of imagination of those who watch the play, it helps to see another world. Lyricism in Shakespeare's drama gives viewers and readers a feeling of life fullness, that raises them to a height from where they can see thing which are unseen in their everyday life.
The interest to the question of lyricism in Shakespeare's works, manifested by the scientists, their observations and conclusions about the style aspects, the characteristics of the images and the specific characteristics of the plot have outlined very interesting principles of studying this aspect. The researchers pointed out that the expressing means of the lyrical colorism in Shakespeare's drama "King Lear" is a certain complex of stylistic principles. These principles include a special unity of the whole text and its structure, also a specific type of the plot which is wider than others and may be considered as a universal one, a special type of an emotional character and madness of the protagonist through which the lyricism is also expressed in drama considered to a lyrical type. All means of the lyrical expressions discovered by scientists in Shakespeare's dramas, irrefutably confirm the fact that he was not only a great playwright, but also a poet, and not just a poet but also a lyricist.
Список литературы / References
1. Гинзбург Л. Я. О лирике / Л. Я. Гинзбург. - Москва : Интрада, 1997. - 413 с.
2. Степанов Н. Л. Лирика Пушкина / Н. Л. Степанов. - Москва : «Художественная литература», 1973. - 367 с.
3. Поспелов Г. Н. Лирика: среди литературных родов / Г. Н. Поспелов. -М. : Высшая школа, 1976. - 207 с.
4. Метерлинк М. Разум цветов / М. Метерлинк. - М. : Московский рабочий, 1995. - 362 с.
Список литературы на английском / References in English
1. Ginzburg L. Ya. O lirike [About Lyrics] / L. Ya. Ginzburg. - Moscow : Intrada, 1997. - 413 p.
2. Stepanov N. L. Lirika Pushkina [Pushkin's lyrics] / N. L. Stepanov. - Moscow : «Khudozhestvennaya literatura», 1973. - 367 p.
3. Pospelov G. N. Lirika: sredi literaturnykh rodov [Lyrics: among literary genres] / G. N. Pospelov. - Moscow : Vysshaja shkola, 1976. - 207 p.
4. Meterlink M. Razum tsvetov [Mind colors] / M. Meterlink. - Moscow : Moskovskiy rabochiy, 1995. - 362 p.