本文是留学生入学coursework代写范例，题目是“Example English Literature Coursework（英国文学范例课程）”，在莎士比亚的戏剧《冬天的故事》中，男人和女人之间有几个有趣的关系。很明显，21世纪的观众对这些关系的反应将与17世纪初的观众不同，因为自它第一次演出以来，在过去的三个世纪里发生了许多变化。诸如性、地位和男女在社会中的地位等问题在剧中得到了探讨，并在随着戏剧的发展而展开的关系中得到了体现。
Men and women in Shakespeare’s play, The Winter’s Tale莎士比亚戏剧《冬天的故事》中的男男女女
There are several interesting relationships between men and women in Shakespeare’s play, The Winter’s Tale. It is clear that a twenty-first century audience will respond to these relationships in a different light from its initial seventeenth century audience as so many changes have occurred over the three centuries since it was first performed. Issues such as sexuality, status and the positions of men and women in society are explored in the play and are played out in the relationships that unfold as the play progresses.
The play is based upon the unfounded jealousy of the King of Sicilia, Leontes, who believes that his wife, Queen Hermione, is committing adultery with his best friend, the King of Bohemia, Polixenes. From the outset, the audience is made aware of the close bond that has existed between the two Kings since their earliest days:
They were trained together in their childhoods; and there rooted betwixt them then such an affection, which cannot choose but branch now (pp. 5-6).
However, this bond is not strong enough to prevent the stirrings of Leontes’ suspicion as he witnesses the friendly exchanges between Hermione and Polixenes and misinterprets them as the exchanges of secret lovers. A modern audience is able to identify with this situation as, regardless of the centuries that have elapsed, unfounded jealousy is still common today and still leads to unfortunate circumstances. To the audience, Hermione’s playful joking with Polixenes as she persuades him to stay is seen as nothing but friendly banter. However, Leontes’ simple question following this scene can be interpreted in two different ways thereby suggesting that his perspective on the relationship between his wife and best friend is very different. He asks his wife, “Is he won yet?” which can be considered a question relating to his wife’s success at persuading Polixenes to stay but can also be considered as a question relating to his wife’s success at wooing Polixenes. The relationship between Polixenes and Hermione is one that is cemented by their mutual love for Leontes.
然而，这种联系还不足以阻止里昂提斯的怀疑，因为他目睹了赫敏和波利希内斯之间的友好交流，并将他们误解为秘密情人的交流。现代读者能够认同这种情况，因为，不管过去了多少世纪，毫无根据的嫉妒在今天仍然很普遍，仍然会导致不幸的情况。在观众看来，赫敏劝说波利希内斯留下来时，和他开玩笑，这不过是友好的玩笑。然而，里昂提斯在这个场景下的简单问题可以从两种不同的方式来解释，从而表明他对妻子和最好的朋友之间的关系的观点是非常不同的。他问妻子:“他赢了吗?”这可以被认为是一个关于他妻子成功说服波利希尼斯留下的问题，但也可以被认为是一个关于他妻子成功争取波利希尼斯的问题。波利希内斯和赫敏之间的关系因为他们对里昂提斯的共同爱而得到巩固。
This is likely to strike a cord with modern audiences just as it would have done in Shakespeare’s time. However, opinions about female sexuality were different in the seventeenth century as women’s sexuality was misunderstood and considered a powerful and even dangerous force if it was not bound by the conventions of the society at the time. Leontes’ fear that his wife is an adulteress, then, would have spoken to contemporary audiences of the fears within their society. Today, the acceptance that women’s sexuality is just as valid as men’s means that the play is interpreted from a different angle and Hermione is pitied even more. Unlike earlier heroines such as Desdemona who is unfairly accused of adultery in Othello, Hermione demonstrates emotional strength and is not solely defined in relation to her husband. This is shown in the trial scene when she appeals to her husband’s knowledge of her past life “as continent, as chaste, as true, / As I am now unhappy” (p.44). Shakespeare, therefore, while presenting the relationship between Leontes and Hermione as one in which Leontes has the power to impose judgment upon Hermione, there is also an inner power granted to Hermione whose integrity is not damaged by the accusations and treatment of her husband.
Just as Hermione suffers the torments of her tyrannical husband and loses first her son, Mamillius, then her newly-born daughter, Perdita, and then her own life, Perdita suffers what a modern audience might consider the injustices of a society that is ruled by social boundaries determined by differences in status. Perdita, who was raised by a shepherd after being sent away by her father as a baby and deserted in Bohemia, meets Polixenes’ son, Prince Florizel, with whom she falls in love. Unlike the first half of the play which is characterised by tragedy due to the damage to the marriage between Leontes and Hermione and the friendship between Leontes and Polixenes, the second half of the play begins with a romance as Shakespeare depicts the love that has blossomed between the exiled princess and the prince. The words that the lovers speak to one another cross the boundaries of status and time. For example, Florizel says:
正如赫敏遭受着她残暴的丈夫的折磨，她首先失去了她的儿子Mamillius，然后是她刚出生的女儿Perdita，然后是她自己的生活，Perdita遭受着现代观众可能会认为的由社会地位差异决定的社会边界所统治的社会的不公正。珀蒂塔在襁褓中被父亲送走后被牧羊人抚养长大，并被遗弃在波西米亚。她遇见了波利希内斯的儿子弗洛里泽尔王子，并爱上了他。与上半年的比赛的特点是由于损害婚姻悲剧Leontes和赫敏和友谊之间Leontes Polixenes,下半年开始玩浪漫的莎士比亚描绘了爱流亡的公主和王子之间的发展。恋人之间的言语跨越了身份和时间的界限。例如，弗洛里泽尔说:
I bless the time
When my good falcon made her flight across
Thy father’s ground (p. 64)
However, Perdita is aware of what she believes to be her lowly status and is troubled by the thought that Florizel’s father, the King, might discover the relationship between them. A modern audience might not be as far removed from this idea as initially thought as it is evident that there are still boundaries that exist between people from poor and wealthy backgrounds. While the injustice might not be as overt as it was in Shakespeare’s time, there are still many social barriers in place. It is Shakespeare’s erection of these barriers in relation to love that highlights the injustice. For example, Perdita’s self-denigration is demonstrated when she says:
然而，Perdita意识到自己的地位低下，并担心弗洛里泽尔的父亲，也就是国王可能会发现他们之间的关系。现代观众可能不会像最初想象的那样远离这个想法，因为很明显，穷人和富人之间仍然存在着界限。虽然这种不公正可能不像莎士比亚时代那么明显，但仍然存在许多社会障碍。正是莎士比亚在爱的关系中建立的这些障碍，凸显了不公正。例如，Perdita的自我诋毁表现在她说:
How would he look to see his work, so noble,
Vilely bound up? (p. 64)
Nevertheless, Florizel’s devotion regardless of Perdita’s status is highlighted when his father removes the disguise he has been wearing and shows his opposition to the marriage that was about to take place between his son and chosen bride. Florizel declares:
From my succession wipe me, father, I
Am heir to my affection (p.80)
Therefore, while The Winter’s Tale reveals the worst sides of humanity to the audience in its depiction of maddening jealousy, social divisions and cruelty, the play also uses the relationship between Perdita and Florizel as a romantic relief for the audience and to highlight that love is more powerful than anything.
因此,当冬天的故事揭示了人类的坏的方面向观众描述发狂的嫉妒,社会分裂和残忍,还使用Perdita之间的关系和Florizel作为观众和突出的浪漫的救援,爱是比任何东西都更强大。
Perhaps the most intriguing relationship between a man and a woman in the play occurs between Leontes and Paulina. While there is an obvious difference in status between the two characters, Paulina is possibly the most powerful woman in the play and has the most influence over the events. From the first time that Paulina addresses Leontes in the play shortly after Hermione has been imprisoned and has given birth to a baby daughter, the audience is made aware of her strength. Modern audiences are likely to respond favourably to Paulina as she stands up for what she believes in and refuses to be silenced or removed by those men who, nominally, are considerably more powerful than she is as a woman in the seventeenth century. When she tries to talk some sense into Leontes before he realises the mistake he has made, he is almost afraid of her and the truth she speaks:
Away with that audacious lady! Antigonus,
I charged thee that she should not come about me.
I knew she would (p.36)
Paulina, on the other hand, is unafraid of the consequences of her words. She is faithful to her mistress, Hermione, even after the latter’s apparent death. When Leontes threatens to have her physically removed, she retorts:
Let him that makes but trifles of his eyes
First hand me. On mine own accord I’ll off,
But first I’ll do my errand (p. 37)
The relationship between Leontes and Paulina changes from this battle of wills to one that sees Paulina acting as Leontes’ conscience. There is only one passage in the play where Paulina repents her words but this is short-lived as Leontes wishes her to continue. Her harsh words that speak the truth of what Leontes’ jealousy and actions have brought him to are encouraged by the King who, instead of wishing to silence her, wishes her to continue:
里昂提斯和宝琳娜的关系从这场意志之战转变为看到宝琳娜扮演里昂提斯的良心。剧中只有一段波琳娜后悔了但这段时间很短里昂提斯希望她继续。她严厉的言辞道出了里昂提斯的嫉妒和行为所导致的真相国王非但不想让她闭嘴，反而希望她继续:
Thou didst speak but well
When most the truth; which I receive much better
Than to be pitied by thee (p.51)
Again, this is an emotion that a modern audience will identify with. The King does not want false pity but wishes to soothe his feelings of guilt by being admonished for what he has done. Paulina, therefore, is the symbol of womanly truth and honesty. She does not have the threatening characteristic of female sexuality but rather is defined by her loyalty and her powerful words. Towards the end of the play, she is almost seen as a friendly witch as she seems to have the power to bring Hermione back to life. It is as though the many years that Leontes bowed down to her punishment and suffered the torment of guilt are rewarded by her. Leontes, in turn, rewards her with a new husband to replace the one she lost.
同样，这是一种现代观众会认同的情感。国王不想要虚假的怜悯，而是希望通过为自己的所作所为受到训诫来抚慰自己的罪恶感。因此，宝琳娜是女性真实和诚实的象征。她没有女性性行为的威胁特征，而是由她的忠诚和强有力的言辞来定义的。在戏剧的结尾，她几乎被视为一个友好的女巫，因为她似乎有能力让赫敏起死回生。就好像里昂提斯屈服于对她的惩罚，忍受罪恶感的折磨，却得到了她的回报。里昂提斯反过来奖励她一个新丈夫来取代她失去的那个。
The Winter’s Tale, then, is as relevant to modern audiences as it was to seventeenth century audiences. The complicated relationships between the men and women in the play are easily identifiable today as they address issues that are still common in modern society. The different approaches to female sexuality mean that the play is interpreted differently today from when it was first performed which adds to its depth. A variety of timeless emotions, whether good or bad, are depicted in the play ranging from love and passion to jealousy and cruelty, which means that The Winter’s Tale will always be a source of intrigue to audiences regardless of the era it is performed in.
因此，《冬天的故事》对17世纪的观众和现代观众同样重要。剧中男人和女人之间的复杂关系在今天很容易被识别，因为他们处理的问题在现代社会仍然很常见。对女性性的不同解读意味着今天的戏剧与它第一次上演时不同，这增加了它的深度。从爱情到激情，从嫉妒到残酷，各种永恒的情感，无论是好是坏，在剧中都被描绘出来，这意味着无论在哪个时代上演，《冬天的故事》都将是观众好奇的源泉。
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