An Aesthetic Research into the Contrastive Styles on the Translations of Shakespeare’s Works

Abstract

There exist debates about “poetry” and “prose” styles in the translations of Shakespeare’s works continuously, and there are the circumstances of one sticking to its own style, partializing and belittling the other. The “verse” school of Shakespeare translation maintains that Shakespeare’s original plays are verse, unique to 16th and 17th-century English poetic dramas (blank verse), which does not rhyme but has a distinct rhythm different from that of prose, typically an iambic five steps per line, capable of both impounding and crooning. Even the prose part of Shakespeare’s plays is also rhythmless verse, which can go into the realm that prose cannot go into. But some point out that translating Shakespeare’s works should base on the principle that “there is no fixed style, but a general style” the “general style” can have different expression styles under the concession of a certain style and the subjects, contents and the different characters of the translators. Besides, the early Shakespearean works were written in blank verse, and in the middle and late periods, they were written in prose. There are also other styles and variants, for example, the “prose-verse-couplet” in Timon of Athens and “syneathetic rhyme” in Winter’s Tale. Consequently, the translations of Shakespeare’s works should be “there is the beauty of poetry and fluency of the prose; meanwhile, poetry and prose should be combined.” Poetry and prose should permeate and converge. “The translations should not hold shape and lose the true conditions, mud the skin and misplace the temperament.”