On Comparison of the Representation of Humanism in Tragedies by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义

christopher marlowe was the foremost elizabethan tragedian of his day. he greatly influenced william shakespeare, who was born in the same year as marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent elizabethan playwright after marlowe's mysterious early death. marlowe's plays are known for the use of blank verse and their overreaching protagonists.

william shakespeare#8217;s tragedies have made a lasting impression on later theatre and literature. in particular, he expanded the dramatic potential of characterization, plot, language, and genre. he created many worthy topics for tragedy.

the tragedies by christopher marlowe laid foundation for william shakespeare#8217;s works. the works of both marlowe and shakespeare have great impact on the development of drama. we can find the representation of humanism in the tragedies by both shakespeare and marlowe.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

the study is to focus on major tragedies by christopher marlowe and william shakespeare, including: tamburlaine the great, the tragical history of the life and death of dr. faustus, romeo and juliet, hamlet, and so on. through the analysis of characters in these works and the social background in which they were created, the paper aims to explore the representation of humanism in these tragedies.

based upon all these interpretation, the similarities and differences between the representation of humanism shall be clear to analyze and explain. meanwhile, the reasons behind the differences will be discussed. what#8217;s more, christopher marlowe#8217;s great impact on shakespeare in terms of humanism will be explored. then, significance of humanism in these tragedies will be discussed.

this paper consists of five parts: first, the ways of presenting humanism of christopher marlowe and william shakespeare in their tragic works; second, comparisons of representation of humanism in these works; third, how the representation of humanism in tragic works by christopher marlowe and william shakespeare is related to each other; fourth, the reasons for differences between the representation of humanism in their tragic works; fifth, the significance of representation tragic works by christopher marlowe and william shakespeare.

3. 国内外研究现状

many scholars have conducted research on representation of humanism in marlowe#8217;s and shakespeare#8217;s tragedies. for example, mario praz, the famous italian scholar of english literature, has a paper which talks about life experience and artistic achievement of christopher marlowe. however, many things about christopher marlowe, including his death, remain mysteries. people do not know much about him. so it is difficult to analyze the representation of humanism in the light of his life experience.

there is plenty of research on specific works of shakespeare, such as the four great tragedies: hamlet, othello, king lear and macbeth. patrick cheney in pennsylvania state university studied the influence of christopher marlowe on william shakespeare's artistry. some scholars have studied the presentation of humanism in both playwrights#8217; works, but they seldom discuss the link and comparison between them.

apart from the research in the foreign countries, domestic scholars conducted plenty of research on both of them. zhang lili from hebei normal university discussed shakespeares#8217; exploration of human instinct and humanism in his four great tragic works. zeng zaolei from southwest university of political science and law and liu lihui from southwest university cooperated to publish a paper about the comparison of god and humans in christopher marlowe#8217;s tragedies. that paper is mainly based on the tragedy of dr. faustus. the study which focuses on both shakespeare and marlowe is not very common in china as well.

4. 计划与进度安排

content of study:

1. major tragic works by christopher marlowe;

2. major tragic works by william shakespeare;

5. 参考文献

[1] marlowe, christopher amp; j. s. cunningham. tamburlain the great[m]. manchester: manchester university press, 1998.

[2] ingram, john henry. christopher marlowe and his associates[m]. new york: nabu press, 2010.

[3] cheney, patrick. the influence of christopher marlowe on william shakespeare''s artistry[j]. english studies, 2009, vol.90 (3): 3 - 6.