The Ocean Writing In Shakespeare’s Plays

Influenced by its geographical location,English literature has a strong connection with the sea.In the 16 th and 17 th centuries,when Shakespeare lived,England joined the ranks of the Great Geographical Discovery and further deepened their understanding of the ocean,enabling English writers to write about the ocean from a new perspective.By analyzing the ocean writing in Shakespeare’s plays,this thesis discusses the influence of the overseas expansion of England in the 16 th and 17 th centuries on the national economy,politics,culture,character,identity and other aspects,the embodiment of this influence in Shakespeare’s plays and Shakespeare’s thinking on the various changes.Specifically,this thesis is organized as follows.The first chapter is an introduction,which summarizes the significance of the thesis and the research results at home and abroad,and focuses on the definition of the two key concepts of“The Ocean Writing”and “Englishness”.“The Ocean Writing”refers to the imagination of underwater scenery,the depiction of storms at ocean,the realistic motivation and attitude of writing about the ocean in Shakespeare’s plays,and so on.Shakespeare reflects and constructs the English national identity of his time as a whole through the writing of the ocean in his plays.The second chapter discusses the historical context in which the writing of the ocean in early English literature in relation to Shakespeare’s time and its impact on literature.The cruelty of the ocean was the initial embodiment of the English people and an important factor in driving the plots of Shakespeare’s plays.However,with the development of the Great Geographical Discovery,the expansion of the scope of marine activities,and the increase in the frequency of ocean exploration,the English people’s concept of the ocean subsequently underwent a transformation,and the content of the ocean in English literature appeared in large numbers.In Shakespeare’s plays,the ocean is not just a symbol of mystery and brutality,but it is given a richer connotation.The third chapter discusses the interaction between the ocean and human beings in Shakespeare’s plays,in which human beings are in awe of the sea but can also fight and cooperate with it,and grow with its power after overcoming many difficulties,such as Hamlet’s “rebirth in the ocean ” and the completion of Viola’s self-construction.For the protagonists in Shakespeare’s plays,the ocean is both a plunderer and a giver;it means unexpected“death”and symbolizes a difficult“rebirth”.The fourth chapter discusses the interaction between the ocean and society in Shakespeare’s plays,extrapolating from specific individuals to society as a whole to explore the political,economic,and cultural changes that occurred in English society after the interaction with the sea in Shakespeare’s plays,including the imagination of the other,the emphasis on overseas trade,the formation of a new commercial culture,and so on,and in doing so,to explore the pride and anxiety of the English nation in Shakespeare’s time.The fifth chapter discusses the interaction between the ocean and the state in Shakespeare’s plays.The ocean writing in Shakespeare’s plays is not only closely related to the characters’ emotional rendering and the advancement of the plot,but also related to the national turmoil and power struggle,the turbulence of the state and the struggle for power.The state is like a ship,and the king is the navigator.Shakespeare’s ocean writing inherits the metaphor of “the ship of the state” in western literature,suggesting the anxiety of the English people at the time of the change of state power in England.The sixth chapter is the conclusion.This chapter discusses the inheritance and development of the tradition of the ocean writing in Shakespeare’s plays in the context of Shakespeare’s playwriting practice and the echo of later literature.Then this chapter provides a concluding discussion of the content of this thesis’ s research and looks at possible future research directions for Shakespeare’s ocean writing.