On the Ritual Roots of Tragic Fate in the Four Tragedies of Shakespeare

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ON THE RITUAL ROOTS OF TRAGIC FATE IN THE FOUR TRAGEDIES OF SHAKESPEARE ABSTRACT The four tragedies of Shakespeare have been long considered to be more than great literature works: they are embodiments of individual tragedies and human tragedies. Scholars have interpreted these works from many different aspects, while critics have put forward so many different views on the roots of Shakespearean tragedies from the time when Shakespeare was alive. After the publication of The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer and the establishment of Myth-Ritual School by Jane Ellen Harrison, some researchers started to interpret the four tragedies from a perspective of ritual. This thesis studies the ritual roots of tragic fate in the four tragedies of Shakespeare by analyzing the hiding ritual in each work and by explaining the tragic inevitability of each ritual. Finding the ritual roots of tragic fate in these works is equally finding the cause of their success in striking an inward chord widely. The study shows that the tragedy of the hiding ritual in the four tragedies is the very underlying roots of the tragedy of these plays. This study has promising implications for the ritual interpretation of Shakespearean tragedies, and furthermore, this study as well indicates that exploring the tragic roots in the field of literary anthropology, based on the theory of ritual, will help readers understand the tragic beauty in Shakespearean tragedies and realize that the tragedy in plays is the mirror of the tragedy in human society. Key Words: ritual roots, tragic fate, four tragedies of Shakespeare 摘 要

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