英国文学问答题汇总.doc

英国文学问答题 1.Shakespeare: Questions: 1. Why sleep is so frightening, according to Hamlet, since it can “end” the heartache and the thousand natural shocks”? 2. Why would people rather hear all the sufferings of the world instead choosing death to get rid of them, according to Hamlet? 3. What, after all, makes people lose their determination to take action? Please explain in relation to the so-called hesitation of Hamlet. 4. What does Romeo compare Juliet to in the beginning passage of the selection? 5. What is Romeo and Juliet’s attitude toward being a Montague or a Capulet? 6.What does Romeo mean when he says “Look thou but sweet, /And I am proof against their enmity”? What’s your understanding on the utterance “to be or not be”? 8. Briefly comment on the characteristics of Hamlet’s personality. 9.When were Shakespeare’s major tragedies written? What did he write about in his tragedies? Answers for reference: 1. Nobody can predict what he will dream of after he falls asleep. 2.Death is so mysterious that nobody knows what death will bring to us. Maybe bitter sufferings, great pains, heartbreaking stories… 1) Conscience and over-considerations. 2) He wants to revenge, but doesn’t know how; 2) He wants to kill his uncle, but find it too risky; 3) He lives in despair and wants to commit suicide, 4)however, he knows if he dies, nobody will comfort his father’s ghost. He is in face of great dilemma. 4. Sun. 5. They would give up their names for love’s sake. 6. Only if you are kind to me, their hatred cannot hurt me. 7. ?To be or not to be” means to live or end one’s life by self-destruction. Hamlet has already spoken of suicide as a means of escape, and he dwells on it in a later part of this very speech, giving however a different reason for refraining. The notion that in the words ?or not to be ? he is speculating on the possibility of “something after death?---whether there is a future life ?cannot be entertained for a moment. The whole drift of the speech shows