It is well known that Shakespeare avoided
the concept of "invention", because during his period it was common
the idea of using similarity with a classical work.
After reading some old posts, one of my
friends wrote about Twelfth
Night based on an ancient
Chinese poem and I wanted to figure out what stories or legends did Shakespeare
based on to write Hamlet ..and I did!
For years, Hamlet has been one of the most
popular and regularly performed and filmed Shakespeare's play in the world
because it involves love, revenge, murder, violence, comedy, among other
things.
Written at an uncertain time between 1599
and 1602, this play was based on two sources: Amleth and Ur- Hamlet.
On the one hand , Amleth is a story very
similar to Hamlet, it
involves Fengi who kills his brother out of jealousy and marries Amleth's
mother. Ambleth pretends to be crazy in order to keep for getting murdered; he
is sent to England guarded by two of Feng's assistants who carried a death
letter. Ameth alters this letter to order the deaths of the assistants and his
own marriage to the king's daugther. When Amleth comes back to Jutland he
murders his uncle, taking vengeance on his father's death and becoming the new
king of Jutland.
On the other hand Ur-Hamlet, which is a Norse
legend written by Thomas Kyd. There are not copies of the original story, being
the only information about it the fact that in the legend there was a character
called Hamlet, that it was a tragedy, and that it was a ghost who grieved
"Hamlet, revenge!"
So, from what I have gathered, I can say
that originality during Shakespearean times did not exist at all.
What do you think?
Ninoska, I would say that originality is something that was lost many centuries ago because we could say that every topic or theme has been covered in different works of art from different points of view. Since humankind learned how to write and began to create literary works, everything started to be repeated by everybody with only a glint of originality.
ResponderEliminarSo from that point, I could say and agree with you in the fact that originality did not exist at all in Shakespearean time. And also add that in a way from Shakespeare to other authors, everybody has committed plagiarism from older authors.
Originality is a concept that we should analyze in the future and not give it thay much importante.
I have to admit that I was glad to know that Shakespeare's stories were based always in something else,I mean, a previously made story,etc. I think that's what shows that he was a genius. Because he was able to modify all those elements in order to explain or expose topics that were very controversial for the time he lived. Shakespeare was a smart guy.
ResponderEliminar