[简答题,10分] Briefly talk about the three literary careers of Shakespeare and their features.

Shakespeare’s dramatic career lasted about 22 years from 1590 to 1612. As to the division of this career, we can put them into the four periods: 1) the experimental period (1590-1594); 2) the period of comedy (1595-1600); 3) the period of tragedies (1601-1609); 4) the period of dramatic romances (1609—1612). The first period is a period of early experimentation, which is marked by youthfulness and rich imagination, by extravagance of language, and by the frequent use of rhymed couplets with blank verse. During this period, Shakespeare looked upon the world as a just one. Good always overcame evil in the long run, and justice would eventually win its cause in the end. Love, faith, work, and duty were the four elements that in all ages made the world right. The main plays written in this period are: Love’ s Labor’s Lost, Two Gentlemen in Verona, Richard III, and his early long poems Venus and Adonis and Lucrece. The second period is the period of comedies and Histories, during which Shakespeare was no longer an apprentice to his art. He worked as master in full command of his medium. During this period, his keen insight into human nature, his power of expression, his genius for constructing a play insured a delighted audience for whatever he might choose to present.