On The Carnival Features Of Shakespeare's Comedies

Mikhail Bakhtin is one of the most important ideologists of the 20th century, whose the theory of carnivals profound and covers an extremely broad category. His theory of carnival the deconstruction of the medieval authoritarian official culture with the folk culture wins many western scholars'favors, arousing intense interest among scientists and scholars. Towards the end of the last century, Bakhtin's theory was introduced into China when the study of Dostoevsky was in vogue. Meanwhile, the research on Bakhtin became a popular topic in China. The scholars unscrambled some writers and works through the theory of carnival from various perspectives and degrees. Shakespeare's dramas are crammed with a carnival spirit. So far, the researches on analyzing Shakespeare's dramas by means of formalism, feminism, psychoanalysis, etc, have been countless, but only a few have applied the theory of carnival to the analysis of Shakespeare's dramas. Although some reach some depth and minuteness, many problems in them remain unexplained. Thus, based on this situation, this study attempts to expound some carnival elements in Shakespeare's comedies through Bakhtin's theory of carnival. In his comedies, there exist two contrasting parts of the world. One is the world of officialdom and the other is the folk world. Through the divergence between the two contrasting parts, the paper aims to reveal the carnival features in Shakespeare's comedies. In conclusion, this paper proves that the abundant carnival color in Shakespeare's comedies full reveals a spirit of equality-based dialogue.The paper is divided into five parts.To begin with, the author reviews the research condition of Shakespeare and his comedies both domestically and abroad. In addition, Bakhtin and his theory of carnival are introduced. Lastly, the author gives a brief introduction of the purposes of the paper.Chapter one mainly discusses various festivals and celebrations in Shakespeare's comedies. Through analyzing various festivals such as the Midsummer Festival, May Festival, Epiphany, Pentecost, Saturnalia, the various weddings and masked dancing, etc, much attention is paid to the carnival spirit coexisting behind them. Among them, the rituals of crowing and decrowing reflect a typical carnival feature and a spirit of equal dialogue. Chapter two analyzes the carnival features of time-space in Shakespeare's comedies. The common features in most comedies constitute xponoton. And carnival time-space outlook includes three features:the illusionary quality in time and space, concentration in plot and exaggeration in characters'lust and embodies a deep carnival feature and a spirit of equal dialogue.Chapter three expounds and analyzes clownish body shape and language. Based on that, it exposes profound carnival characteristics and embodies a spirit of equal dialogue.The last part is conclusion. By expounding thoroughly Shakespeare's comedies, this paper proves that Shakespeare's comedies are laden with abundant carnival color. In virtue of the profound carnival features, Shakespeare's drama becomes a milestone in the literary carnival history. Meanwhile, the study aims to confirm the availability that Bakhtin's Carnival theory can be also applied to the analysis of plays.