《科利奥兰纳斯》中的国家权力与瘟疫隐喻

National Power and the Metaphor of Plague in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus

《科利奥兰纳斯》中没有直接描写瘟疫的场景,但却暗藏了瘟疫的隐喻——莎士比亚将平民的骚动和叛乱比喻成毁灭城邦的瘟疫。本文通过考证史实发现,在莎士比亚写作的时代,民众聚集引发的危机远胜瘟疫在英国造成的混乱。此剧创作之时,正值新君主詹姆士一世上台,稳固绝对主义封建王权的地位是头等大事。莎士比亚将民众的暴动和骚乱视作社会瘟疫,是国家稳固的大敌。《科利奥兰纳斯》中的瘟疫话语,反映的正是新晋君主对政权稳固的焦虑和担忧。然而,剧中不仅仅体现了这种维护国家权力的话语,莎士比亚也在不经意间为平民开脱,质疑和拷问着"君权神授"的神话。

Without any direct references of plague,Coriolanus is haunted by the metaphor of plague in which Shakespeare compares citizens’turbulence to the plague within.Analysing the historical evidence,the author finds that citizens’riots were more prevalent than the plague at that time.When Shakespeare wrote Coriolanus,James I,who considered national power and stability to be the first agenda of the country,rose to power.Hence,public riots were deemed a plague which would devastate the whole country.However,while Shakespeare’s plague metaphor of plague displays anxiety about safeguading national power,his play also inadvertently excusses the common people and expressses skepticism about the myth of the divine right of kings.