Thematic and Textual Comparison of the Tragedies "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and "Antigone" by Sophocles

Iliev, Krste and Pop Zarieva, Natalija (2016) Thematic and Textual Comparison of the Tragedies "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and "Antigone" by Sophocles. ФИЛКО - Зборник на трудови од Прва меѓународна научна конференција за филологија, култура и образование, 1 (1). pp. 275-283. ISSN 978-608-244-308-9

[thumbnail of Thematic and Textual Comparison of the Tragedies 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare and 'Antigone' by Sophocles.pdf]
Preview
Text
Thematic and Textual Comparison of the Tragedies 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare and 'Antigone' by Sophocles.pdf - Published Version

Download (413kB) | Preview

Abstract

Abstract
This paper aims at making a comparison of some of the most renowned tragedies in the history of Western literature, Hamlet and Antigone. Both plays summarize the values and ethos at the apex of their countries of origin, the Golden Age of Athens and the Golden Age of England. The Renaissance has brought the achievements of Ancient writers to England during the Golden Age, hence some similarities between the two tragedies. Both plays, Hamlet and Antigone pose the eternal question concerning the nature of human existence and indirectly about human`s place in nature. Both plays are dichotomous, simultaneously emphasising the greatness of human nature, and pointing out the insignificance of humans faced with nature. In Hamlet and Antigone, the protagonists struggle to fulfil what they regard as their duty and dwell on how their actions will affect their afterlife. In addition, both plays deal with the role of Fate and Free Will in the lives of humans and illustrate how this struggle is perceived in 5th century BC Athens/Thebes and 15th/ 16th century England. The paper aims to analyse how Shakespeare and Sophocles approach and elaborate these everlasting themes.

Key words: human nature, ontology, eschatology, deontology, Fate and Free Will

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Humanities > Languages and literature
Divisions: Faculty of Philology
Depositing User: Krste Iliev
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2017 09:09
Last Modified: 10 Nov 2017 09:09
URI: https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/18490

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item