셰익스피어의 희극적 전략: 「베로나의 두 신사」

Abstract

Yong Kwan LeeWhenever Shakespearean comedy is mentioned, attention is often paid to Shakespeare's middle comedies which are also called "mature" comedies. Shakespeare's early comedies, with the exception of A Midsummer Night's Dream which is regarded as his first comic achievement, tend to be undervalued or disregarded. Among the early comedies, The Two Gentlemen of Verona has been viewed as the least attractive and the least artistic. Censure has centered around the fifth act in particular with its implausible harmonies. Even though the play shows weakness in plotting, it tries several structural devices which will be used in future comedies. However crude it seems to be, its fundamental structure mirrors that of the so-called mature comedy. Through this play, we can sketch the outline of Shakespearean comic strategies. Shakespeare's comic action moves from separation to reunion for the goal of social harmony, and from self-ignorance to knowledge for the goal of individual harmony, namely, recognition. Shakespeare establishes a "green world"--usually revealed as a woodland where conflicts are to be resolved. One of his hidden but core strategies, however, is to suspend or postpone the final moment of comic resolution. The purpose is to require the audience to alternate between the role of "participant" and "spectator," giving the audience a dual perspective. Shakespeare makes the most of the aesthetics of 'two'.