关于莎士比亚鲜为人知的7件事

时间：2014-04-27 07:46:17

（单词翻译:单击）

April 23 is the 450th anniversary of the birth of Britain's most famous playwright1 and poet. The relatively2 few facts we know about William Shakespeare have made him an enigmatic figure. Here are a few things that you may not know about him:

4月23日是英国最伟大的剧作家和诗人威廉·莎士比亚诞辰450周年的日子。由于我们对莎翁知之甚少，他的身上总是笼罩着神秘的色彩。以下是一些关于莎翁的鲜为人知的事情：

1. Shakespeare was a "fat cat"
 
From his career in the theatre, which included acting3, playwriting, and being a "sharer" in the profits of his company, Shakespeare amassed4 a comfortable fortune. By the age of 33 he was able to buy New Place, the 2nd largest house in Stratfordupon-Avon. He later bought property in London as well as Stratford.
 
2. Shakespeare was a co-writer
 
It was common for playwrights5 of Shakespeare's time to collaborate6. There are many passages in Shakespeare's plays that were written by someone else. He worked with Thomas Middleton on "Timon of Athens", and with John Fletcher on "Henry VIII".
 
As for some of the most famous parts of "Macbeth" - the witchy bits - it's likely they were Middleton's work too, bolted on to the play at a later date.
 
3. You speak Shakespeare
 
In spite of his flowery language, Shakespeare created many of the words or expressions we use in English today. We owe him: eyeball, bloodstained, radiance（辐射，光辉）, assassination7 and lackluster（无光泽的）, to name but a few.

4. Shakespeare's daughter was illiterate8
 
In that period, literacy was a skill, useful in certain trades and professions, mainly male. Shakespeare was a man of his time, and his time did not value literacy in women.
 
5. Shakespeare did not care about posterity9
 
It seems that Shakespeare did not care whether his plays survived or not. This may partly reflect the low esteem10 in which plays - a form of literature - were held at the time.
 
6. Shakespeare has no descendants
 
His only son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11. His daughter Susanna had no children and all his daughter Judith's children died young. None of his 3 brothers married. The Shakespeare line effectively ran out within 25 years of the poet's death.
 
7. Shakespeare has had some heavyweight haters
 
Not everyone has concurred11 in Shakespeare's greatness as a writer. Voltaire thought "Hamlet" the work of a "drunken savage"; George III said: "Was there ever such stuff as great part of Shakespeare? Only one must not say so!" And George Bernard Shaw got quite carried away in his detestation of the poet: "It would positively12 be a relief to me to dig him up and throw stones at him." That was in a newspaper. Imagine if Shakespeare had been on Twitter.

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1 playwright 8Ouxo     
n.剧作家，编写剧本的人
参考例句：
  • Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
  • The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。
2 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地，相对地
参考例句：
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
3 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的
参考例句：
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。
4 amassed 4047ea1217d3f59ca732ca258d907379     
v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
  • They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 playwrights 96168871b12dbe69e6654e19d58164e8     
n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • We're studying dramatic texts by sixteenth century playwrights. 我们正在研究16 世纪戏剧作家的戏剧文本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Hung-chien asked who the playwrights were. 鸿渐问谁写的剧本。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
6 collaborate SWgyC     
vi.协作，合作；协调
参考例句：
  • The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
  • I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。
7 assassination BObyy     
n.暗杀；暗杀事件
参考例句：
  • The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
  • Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。
8 illiterate Bc6z5     
adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲
参考例句：
  • There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
  • I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。
9 posterity D1Lzn     
n.后裔，子孙，后代
参考例句：
  • Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
  • The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。
10 esteem imhyZ     
n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作
参考例句：
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。
11 concurred 1830b9fe9fc3a55d928418c131a295bd     
同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
  • So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。
12 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实
参考例句：
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

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