哈姆雷特 The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

哈姆雷特


全名 《丹麦王子，哈姆雷特的悲剧》（The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark）
又名 《王子复仇记》
作者 英国威廉·莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）
版本历史 该剧写于1598年至1602年夏季之间。这部伊丽莎白时代戏剧杰作的第一个印刷本是所谓的“坏四开本”（Bad Quarto），是一个没有作者授权的盗版版本。 作者授权的“第二四开本”（Second Quarto，简称Q2）很快也面世了，同时在莎士比亚全集中又出现了一个确有出入、删减的“第一对开本”（First Folio）。 现代英语的版本根据第二四开本和对开本校对而来。 参见:莎剧版本。 《哈姆雷特》是莎士比亚最负盛名，且被人引用最多的一部剧本。习惯上将本剧与《麦克白》、《李尔王》和《奥赛罗》一起并称为莎士比亚的“四大悲剧”。
哈姆雷特是一位丹麦王子的名字，也是本剧的主人公。在剧场中，哈姆雷特恐怕是在西方各国搬演最多的角色之一，也对成熟的男演员提出了巨大挑战（因为哈姆雷特在剧中是一个初出茅庐的年轻人）。
哈姆雷特在剧中第三幕|第一场那段“生存还是毁灭，这是个问题”（To be, or not to be）的经典独白恐怕也是戏剧史上流传最广的台词之一；而这也成了许多现代演员恶梦般的表演难点。

主要角色（因为版本差异，人名可能有出入，请参考英文原名和莎剧汉译。以下从朱生豪译本。）
哈姆雷特 Prince Hamlet —— 丹麦王子。为父王的鬼魂所困扰，要对杀父凶手复仇。经历了痛苦的挣扎之后他达成了目的，整个王宫也陷入了死亡的恐怖之中。他最后也中了致命的毒剑死去。
克劳地 Claudius —— 丹麦现任国王。他是哈姆雷特的叔父，在哥哥死后继任了王位。老王的鬼魂告诉哈姆雷特，他正是谋杀自己的凶手。他罪有应得，最后死在侄子复仇的毒剑下。
鬼魂 King Hamlet (Ghost) —— 哈姆雷特的父亲死后化成的鬼魂。他被弟弟毒死时，哈姆雷特正在国外。
葛簇特 Gertrude—— 丹麦王后，王子的亲生母亲。老王死后她改嫁克劳地，在莎士比亚的时代这种关系被视为乱伦，所以引起了哈姆雷特的仇恨。她替哈姆雷特误喝下了克劳地预设的毒酒，当场身亡。
波隆尼尔 Polonius—— 克劳地的御前大臣。他是个出了名的老顽固，阻挠哈姆雷特与欧菲莉亚之间的爱情。哈姆雷特总是假装呆头呆脑来戏弄他。他躲在一块挂毯后，偷听哈姆雷特与王后的谈话时，被王子一剑刺死。
雷尔提 Laertes—— 波隆尼尔的儿子。为了父亲和妹妹的死用剑杀死了哈姆雷特。他也死在哈姆雷特的毒剑下，尽管当时哈姆雷特没有意识到剑是带毒的。
欧菲莉亚 Ophelia—— 波隆尼尔的女儿。她与哈姆雷特双双陷入爱河，但种种阻力警告王子，政治地位使他们无望结合。作为哈姆雷特疯狂复仇计划的一部分，她被他无情抛弃，加上父亲的死让她陷入精神错乱，最终失足落水溺毙。
赫瑞修 Horatio—— 哈姆雷特大学里的密友。他没有直接卷入王室之间的阴谋，所以他成了哈姆雷特的传声筒，莎翁用他来烘托剧情。他也是唯一一个活到全剧结束的主要角色。虽然他曾扬言要自杀。
罗生克兰和盖登思邓 Rosencrantz & Guildernstern—— 都是哈姆雷特大学中的老同学。他们被克劳地招来照看哈姆雷特。虽然两人在剧中的作用不大，但王子很快就猜疑两人是间谍。当国王下密令要处死远在英国的哈姆雷特时，他把名字偷换了。于是两人在幕后莫名其妙地死去。
福丁布拉 Fortinbras—— 挪威王子。在剧中只有短短的过场戏。但他的重要性在于，全剧的最后台词由他说出，似乎象征着一个更为光明的未来，阐述了剧作主题。
剧情概要本剧讲述的是丹麦王子哈姆雷特的替父报仇的故事。 The play is about the revenge of Prince Hamlet, whose father, the late King of Denmark, victor over the sled-riding Polish army, died suddenly while Hamlet was away from home at Wittenberg University. Prior to the opening of the play, the King's brother Claudius had himself proclaimed king, and cemented his claim to the throne by marrying Hamlet's mother Gertrude, the widowed Queen.
The play opens on the battlements of Elsinore Castle, seat of the Danish monarchy, where a group of sentries is terrified by the sight of the ghost of the recently deceased King Hamlet. Hamlet's friend Horatio joins the soldiers on their watch and when the ghost appears, bids it to speak. They are aware it has some message to deliver, but it vanishes without saying anything to them.
The next day, the Danish court meets to celebrate the wedding of Claudius and Gertrude. The new King urges Hamlet not to persist in his grief. When he is alone again, Hamlet expresses his anger at the accession of his uncle Claudius to the throne and his mother's hasty remarriage. Horatio and the guards come to the scene and tell him of the appearance of the ghost of his father. Hamlet is determined to investigate this.
Joining Horatio on the watch on the battlements that night, just when Hamlet is delivering a speech censuring the Danes for their drunkenness on certain occasions, the ghost appears again. It beckons him to come along with him so they can enjoy a bit of privacy and reveals to him a fearful secret: his father was indeed murdered. He was poisoned through the ear by Claudius, and the Ghost commands Hamlet to avenge him. Shocked by this discovery, Hamlet returns to Horatio and the sentries, and made them swear an oath not to reveal details of the night's events to anyone.
Hamlet is unsure whether the ghost he has seen is really his father, and suspects that it might be the Devil taking his father's appearance in order to take his soul to hell. He therefore sets out to test the king's conscience through putting on an "antic disposition" (acting insane), in the hope that his behavior might tell the truth, or otherwise acquire the opportunity to put an end to Claudius.
Hamlet now feigns insanity to be able to convict Claudius of murder and treason, and takes special delight in making a fool of Polonius, the king's Polish-born councilor. Polonius, convinced of Hamlet's act, is certain that Hamlet's madness stems from his unrequited love for his daughter Ophelia. He forbade his daughter any kind of relationship with Hamlet. So he now fears for his status at court and offers his services to the King in this matter in an attempt to redeem himself before the King of any guilt. Namely, he wants to find out the reason of Hamlet's mad behavior for the King by staging a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia on which Polonius and Claudius will spy upon. Claudius, perhaps suspecting Hamlet's ruse, also asks Hamlet's schoolmates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to monitor him, but Hamlet does not let his guard down and sees the intention behind his schoolmates' sudden visit. He enlists a company of traveling performers to stage an existing play which he has modified to re-enact the circumstances of his father's murder.
   "The play's the thing   Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."   [Act II, scene II]Shortly after the play begins, Claudius cannot bear to watch, rises and asks for lights. The king's anguished reaction to the performance (which Horatio also notices) convinces Hamlet of his guilt. Shortly afterwards, Claudius arranges for Hamlet to be deported to the Danish territories of England along with Rosencratz and Guildenstern, where he is to be killed upon arrival. Alone, Claudius privately expresses his disgust at what he has done, and offers a prayer of repentance. Hamlet discovers Claudius at prayer and prepares to kill him, but then stops, reasoning that he does not want his revenge to have the result of sending the repentant Claudius to Heaven. Ironically, after Hamlet slips away, Claudius concludes that he is unable to repent in his current state of mind; thus, if Hamlet had not attempted to arrogate to himself the destiny of Claudius's soul, rather than just his life, he would have gotten the ultimate justice he sought. By trying to go beyond the ghost's orders, he has doomed his efforts to failure.
Hamlet confronts his mother about the murder of his father and her sexual relations with her new husband, and during their conversation, he stabs Polonius, who has been hiding behind a tapestry eavesdropping on their conversation, thinking it may have been Claudius. Unrepentant of his crime, he continues to admonish his mother. King Hamlet's ghost makes a reappearance to rebuke Hamlet. Hamlet's mother cannot see the ghost, and sees him conversing with it, she is convinced that her son has really gone mad.
Claudius, who has figured out Hamlet's real motivation, sends Hamlet to England, supposedly for his safety, but accompanied by a sealed letter to the English ordering his death. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent along to ensure the orders are carried out. On the way to England, Hamlet's ship is attacked by pirates, who take Hamlet prisoner but then return him to Denmark.
Meanwhile, Ophelia loses her sanity, being gravely disturbed by Hamlet's rejection and the death of Polonius. She sings a number of rustic melodies that Shakespeare may have pilfered from the English folk tradition. In what may have been a suicide attempt, she falls into a brook and drowns. Laertes, her brother, returns from overseas, and is hungry to avenge his father's and sister's death.
Hamlet, returning from his voyage, meets Horatio at a graveyard outside Elsinore castle just as Ophelia's funeral cortege arrives there, where a gravedigger (jester/clown) is digging. Hamlet finds the skull of Yorick (see skull as a symbol), an old jester to the court who has carried him on his back during his childhood days, and proclaims, "Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft." As Hamlet broods on mortality, the cortege arrives with the King, Queen and Laertes. Hamlet is so distraught to learn of Ophelia's death that he leaps into the open grave and grapples with Laertes.
When Laertes and Claudius learn of Hamlet's return to Denmark, they scheme to kill Hamlet with the intention of making the death look like an accident. To this end, Claudius instructs Laertes to challenge Hamlet to a fencing match. In order to encourage Hamlet to accept, Claudius lays stakes on the match which are very disfavorable to himself. Unknownst to Hamlet, Laertes will be fighting with a sharpened and poisoned foil, instead of the customary bated blade. In addition, Claudius prepares some poisoned wine for Hamlet to drink as a toast, just in case Laertes is unable to hit him.
While waiting for the match to begin, Hamlet and Horatio jest with the diffirent fop Osric. At the match Hamlet wins the first two rounds, and Gertrude drinks some of the wine to have a toast on him, unaware that it is poisoned. Hamlet is hit with the sword and fatally poisoned, but in the ensuing brawl, he swaps blades with Laertes, and deals a deep wound to Laertes with the poisoned sword as well. The Queen dies from the wine, and warns Hamlet that the drink is poisoned. With his dying breath, Leartes also confesses the whole plot to Hamlet. Enraged, Hamlet kills Claudius with the poisoned weapon, forcing him also to drink the poisoned wine, at last avenging his father's death.
Horatio, horrified at the turn of events, seizes the poisoned wine and proposes to join his friend in death, but Hamlet wrests the cup away from him. He orders him to tell his story to the world to restore Hamlet's good name. Hamlet also recommends that the Norwegian prince, Fortinbras, be chosen as the successor to the Danish throne. Hamlet dies, and Horatio mourns his passing:
   "Now cracks a noble heart: Good night sweet prince:   And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"   [Act V, scene II]Fortinbras enters with English ambassadors. Shocked by the carnage, he orders a military funeral for Hamlet, whilst Horatio offers to relate the whole tale to him and the public.