셰익스피어 극에 나타난 당대의 사회상과 ‘좋은 사회’에 대한 비전
Social Aspects of the Time and a Vision of ‘Good Society’ in Shakespeare’s Plays
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Art is a mirror that reflects the world. That’s why Shakespeare’s plays implicitly or explicitly represent the political and social changes in England and the reality of the society at that time. In the age of Shakespeare, England was in the transition from the feudal monarchy to the early modern one and from the medieval feudal-aristocratic society to the emerging bourgeois capitalism. Most of Shakespeare’s plays contain a variety of aspects and visages of such political and social changes. Hence, I traced the social or political conflicts and values between the old and new orders, and the old and new system, resulting in the fluctuating landscapes of characters’ rise and fall mainly through analysis focusing on Shakespeare’s three works, Coriolanus, King Lear and Richard II. Unable to read the changes and harsh reality of the times, the three heros symbolizing the old world like the glorious General Coriolanus, King Lear and King Richard fell into the tragic destiny. In contrast to the harsh reality, we can also find a good world in Shakespeare’s plays. They are the three good societies remembered in Western history: the pastoral society, the utopian society, and the Garden of Eden society. However, those societies are utopias that cannot be realized either in reality or in the future. In that respect, I believe that Shakespeare had a vision for a ‘good society’ that may be difficult in reality but is feasible in the future. This is because he hid in the play the elements of hope for building a better society for all mankind. They are the values of equality, freedom, fraternity, and empathy. How would Shakespeare react if he time-traveled to the present London? He prophesied 400 years ago, “Oh, brave new world!”
Abstract
Art is a mirror that reflects the world. That’s why Shakespeare’s plays implicitly or explicitly represent the political and social changes in England and the reality of the society at that time. In the age of Shakespeare, England was in the transition from the feudal monarchy to the early modern one and from the medieval feudal-aristocratic society to the emerging bourgeois capitalism. Most of Shakespeare’s plays contain a variety of aspects and visages of such political and social changes. Hence, I traced the social or political conflicts and values between the old and new orders, and the old and new system, resulting in the fluctuating landscapes of characters’ rise and fall mainly through analysis focusing on Shakespeare’s three works, Coriolanus, King Lear and Richard II. Unable to read the changes and harsh reality of the times, the three heros symbolizing the old world like the glorious General Coriolanus, King Lear and King Richard fell into the tragic destiny. In contrast to the harsh reality, we can also find a good world in Shakespeare’s plays. They are the three good societies remembered in Western history: the pastoral society, the utopian society, and the Garden of Eden society. However, those societies are utopias that cannot be realized either in reality or in the future. In that respect, I believe that Shakespeare had a vision for a ‘good society’ that may be difficult in reality but is feasible in the future. This is because he hid in the play the elements of hope for building a better society for all mankind. They are the values of equality, freedom, fraternity, and empathy. How would Shakespeare react if he time-traveled to the present London? He prophesied 400 years ago, “Oh, brave new world!”
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