Shakespeare Lives On!

本文由BRITISH COUNCIL–全球最值得信賴的英語 教學機構–提供，網址：www.britishcouncil.org.tw

Shakespeare Lives On! 莎士比亞恆久遠 共鳴不分古今 撰文及考題設計 British Council 英協教育中心 Mark O’ Sullivan 中譯 陳怡君 （中央社編譯）

oet, actor, and playwright, this 16th century

without doubt, yet surprisingly little is really known

British iconic figure has managed to transcend

about his personal life.

P

time and boundaries as his legacy stills lives on

詩人、演員與劇作家，16世紀的英國代表性人物

after 400 years and has spanned the globe. Widely

威廉莎士比亞已超越時空，在他死後400年作品仍

regarded as the greatest writer in the English

在世界各地流傳。儘管廣被視為最偉大的英文作

language, William Shakespeare’s worldwide fame is

家，全球盛名無庸置疑，但令人訝異的是，莎士比

直到今天，莎士比亞的劇本仍在世界各地廣受歡迎。圖為 古巴國家芭蕾舞團舞者於2014年10月28日第24屆哈瓦那 芭蕾舞節上，演出《莎士比亞和他的面具》。（歐新社）

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英倫聚焦

亞的個人生活卻罕為人知。 We know that he was born in 1564 in Stratford-

glove-maker and being born and raised in a simple

Upon-Avon in England, and at age 18 he married

sheep farming community, would not have provided

Anne Hathaway, who was 8 years his senior. They

the education or background to nurture such a

had three children together, Susanna, and twins

literary genius. In addition to this, it is suggested

Hamnet and Judith, and he died in 1616 at the age of

that his works display intimate knowledge of court

52. It is often claimed that he died on his birthday,

politics and culture, foreign countries, aristocratic

but exact details of the dates of his actual birth and

sports, and therefore no-one other than a highly

death are uncertain, as no precise records exist, only

educated nobleman could have written such details.

church records of him being baptised and buried.

The most popular suggested alterative authors are

我們知道他1564年生於英格蘭小鎮史特拉福， 18歲娶了大他8歲的安妮．哈瑟維，兩人育有三名

Sir Francis Bacon or Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl or Oxford.

子女，分別是蘇珊娜與雙胞胎兄弟漢姆奈特與朱

一些專家也質疑莎士比 亞的作家身分，認為

帝斯。莎士比亞在1616年辭世，享年52歲。一般都

來自史特拉福的莎士比亞可能是另名作者或者

說他是在生日當天過世，但由於缺乏確實記載，他

作者群的掩 護─ ─無論出於什麼原因，無法或

出生與死亡日期的確切細節迄今無法證實，目前

不想 曝 光 真實身 分。外界 向 來懷 疑，身為 手 套

僅有他受洗與下葬的教堂紀錄。

工人之子以及在綿羊牧 場社區中成長的寒微出

Even his exact name is a bit of a mystery, as

身，無 法 提 供培育這位 文學天才所需的教育 或

recordings at the time show anything ranging from

背景；此外，他的作品對於法庭政治與文化、外

Willm Shakp , to Wm Shakspe , to William Shaksper ,

國、貴族運動展現深入了解，除非是受過高等教

among many other variations. Interestingly, the

育的貴族才 能寫出這般 細節。法蘭西斯培根 爵

‘William Shakespeare’ name that we use today only

士或 英國第17代牛津伯爵愛 德華德 維爾，是莎

became the established spelling by the middle of the

士比亞作品真實作者的最熱門人選。

20th century.

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Shakespeare’s humble upbringing as the son of a

It is often said that about 2,000-3,000 new words

就 連他的真實姓名也是 個謎，過去文 獻 顯示

and phrases were invented by William Shakespeare

從「Willm Shakp」、「Wm Shakspe」到「William

and there are countless examples of language that we

Shaksper」的拼法都有。有趣的是，我們今天使用

still currently use today that are directly attributed

的「William Shakespeare」是一直到20世紀中葉才

to him. His extensive collection of writings includes

確立下來。

around 38 plays and 154 sonnets (poems) and has

A few exper t s have called Sha kespea re’s

been translated into every major living language,

authorship into question, and believe that the

and these works have been performed more than

Shakespeare from Stratford was used as a cover

that of any other playwright. Apart from the direct

for another author, or possibly authors, who for

theatres performances of his plays, many have also

whatever reason could not or did not want to reveal

been adapted into other forms of entertainment.

their true identities. It has been suggested that

Romeo and Juliet , for example, has formed the basis

全球中央雜誌 2016.02

本文由BRITISH COUNCIL–全球最值得信賴的英語 教學機構–提供，網址：www.britishcouncil.org.tw

莎士比亞被視為最偉大的英文作家。圖 為2015年10月29日德國柏林「杜莎夫人 蠟像館」為「2016莎士比亞年」活動， 所展出的新莎士比亞蠟像。（歐新社）

of many modern interpretations of this classic love-

Today, his plays still remain hugely popular

tragedy story, from the Disney animation ‘Lion

and are constantly being studied, interpreted and

King II’, to the Broadway musical ‘West Side Story’,

reinvented into modern works around the world. The

to the Hollywood romantic-zombie-comedy ‘Warm

fact that his characters and storylines still live on

Bodies’.

after their Elizabethan origins, shows the genius of

一般都說莎士比亞創造約2,000至3,000個新詞

his writing in being able to present the emotions and

彙與用語，我們今天仍在使用的無數語言例子也

conflicts of real people, which is why so many can

得直接歸功於他。他廣泛的作品集包括約38部戲

relate to his vast body of work and why his legacy

劇與154首十四行詩，被翻譯成當代使用的語言，

will continue to live on in the future.

且演出的作品超過任何一位劇作家。他的戲劇除

直到今天，他的劇本仍在世界各地廣受歡迎，

了直接在劇場演出外，不少也被改編成其他娛樂

並且持續受到研究、解讀並且重新改編為現代作

形式，舉例來說，從迪士尼動畫《獅子王II》、百

品。他源自伊莉莎白時代的角色與台詞仍持續流

老匯音樂劇《西城故事》、到好萊塢浪漫殭屍喜劇

傳，顯示他的寫作才華能夠呈現真實人類的情感

《殭屍哪有那麼帥》，而《羅密歐與茱麗葉》已成

與衝突，這就是為什麼許多人對他的鉅作產生共

為許多現代經典愛情悲劇版本的基礎。

鳴以及其作品得以傳世的原因。

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英倫聚焦

Key Words playwright [noun] – 劇作家 a person who writes plays

called into question [verb phrase] – 引發質疑 to cause doubts about something

iconic [adj] – 代表性的 being very famous or popular

humble [adj] – 貧窮或社會地位低的 poor or of low social rank

transcend [verb] – 超越 to go further, to rise above something, especially a limit

upbringing [noun] – 撫育 the way in which you are educated and treated when you are young

spanned [verb] – 跨度（一段時間） to continue for a particular length of time

nurture [verb] – 滋養 to help develop

baptised [verb] – 受洗 to make someone an official member of the church, usually shortly after birth

雅思考試粉絲團： www.facebook.com/ielts.testcentre

attributed [verb] – 貢獻 to say that something is the result or work or something or someone else interpretation [noun] – 解讀 an explanation or opinion of what something means

雅思考試模擬試題 IELTS questions

Exam tip 1 – Underline key words in the question and study the text carefully to see if any relevant part matches the statement.

Exam tip 2 – For standard tasks like this, the questions will follow the order of the text.

Write ‘True’ (T), ‘False’ (F) or ‘Not Given’ (NG) after each of the statements 1~10.

Example Question: Question: Shakespeare’s legacy still lives on after four centuries Answer: True “…as his legacy stills lives on after 400 years…”

Questions: 1. Shakespeare’s work has remained popular long after he lived and has spread worldwide.

2. He is regarded as the best writer ever.

3. Details of his private life are very clear and well-understood.

4. His wife, Anne Hathaway, was 8 years older than him.

5. William Shakespeare had five grandchildren.

6. Many historians argue that William Shakespeare did not really write his own work.

7. Shakespeare came from a relatively simple background.

8. William Shakespeare is responsible for creating around 25% of the English Language.

9. Shakespeare wrote hundreds of plays.

10. Shakespeare’s work is losing its interest and popularity because the themes are no longer relevant to modern society.

1. True 2.False 3. False 4. True 5. Not Given 6.False 7. True 8. Not Given 9. False 10. False 全球中央雜誌 2016.02

Answers:

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