성공한 게임과 실패한 게임

Abstract

The date of composition and first performance of Hamlet and King Lear were at the close of the Elizabeth and early in the James Ⅰ era. According to the Hamlet’s words, the purpose of playing is that to hold the mirror up to nature. It is also the issue that how could we represent the present political, social and cultural situation in Renaissance which was probably a subject of conversation’s of Shakespeare, too. Shakespeare thought that the play is the abstracts and brief chronicles of the time. At this point, he contrived a new kind of game. “The play-within-a-play” in Hamlet and “Love contest” in King Lear are new kinds of games which get to the heart of the plays. Hamlet inserts some lines in The Murder of Gonzago and makes new one ‘The Mousetrap’ which has designed to catch the conscience of Claudius. The play-within-a-play carries out as planned of Hamlet and succeed in proof Claudius’ crime. After that Claudius became the “thing” to Hamlet and Hamlet was the center of the play and secured a subjectivity. On the contrary, King Lear works out “Love contest” which asked his daughters to engaged in a contest that will decide who shall get divided kingdom. Gonerill and Regan play along her father’s game and pretend to be a dutiful daughter. After he divided up kingdom and abdicate the throne, he was contained by them. But Cordelia says “nothing” which senses the natural relationships of man. She goes her own way as ‘true game’. For the “Love contest” which was failed game he designed, Lear fell so low as to become a “beggar”. It shows that Shakespeare adapted the histories and discourses in Renaissance for the stage and let us find to true meaning of Britain’s society in his represented texts.