민족시인의 형성: 왕정복고기와 18세기 영국의 셰익스피어

Abstract

This paper explores the process of Shakespeare’s becoming the national poet from the Restoration to the end of the eighteenth century, culminating in the Stratford Jubilee of 1769. Particular emphasis is placed on the various cases of adaptation and appropriation of Shakespeare the oeuvre and the poet himself. To begin with, it was William Davenant who first successfully revived Shakespeare on stage through adaptation, making his plays fit for the changed taste of the contemporary audience. The constitutional crisis from the 1580s helped make Shakespeare much more resourceful to adaptors under the pressure of political censorship, regardless of their political positions, because the poet’s “universality” seemed to transcend all their differences. Patriots, a Whig political faction campaigned to build a Shakespeare statue in Westminster Abbey to promote their political agenda against the Establishment. Other pressure groups include the Shakespeare Ladies’ Club and the middle-class merchants who promoted Shakespeare for their own political, moral, and cultural purposes. David Garrick, who officially started his dramatic career in 1741, when the Shakespeare statue was built in Westminster Abbey as the national poet, is an important example for the Shakespeare reception in eighteenth-century England. Ironically, his contribution to Shakespeare as an actor, adaptor, and entrepreneur eventually made Shakespeare transcend from the stage beyond the historical condition. As Shakespeare was de-historicized and turned into a transcendental, universal, and essential poet, he was no longer subject to London or England alone. Shakespeare was proclaimed as “our Shakespeare” notably by the Germans, followed by the Italians and the Irish, who were inspired by nationalism. As for the Koreans, Shakespeare was introduced as a reputed national poet and his work was not initially encountered through translation or performance but rather through adaptations such as Lambs’ Tales from Shakespear, a representative case of the essential Shakespeare. This historical fact also highlights the importance of studying the process of Shakespeare’s becoming the national poet for the sake of gaining a retrospective understanding of the Korean reception of Shakespeare.