Influence of William Shakespeare on Melville’s Moby-Dick Essay

In 1820 in the Edinburgh Review Sidney Smith give tongue to In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? (par. 4). That was the conventional humor concerning American Literature to the conservative British writers. But Melville proved this premiss of the British writers wrong not by arguing with them but by producing a huge work which in its quality is comparable to Shakespearian great tragedies.Melvilles masterpiece Moby-Dick consists of thousands of references, but speciallyreferences of Shakespeare are in abundance in this book. When Melville wrote thisnovel, next to the Bible Shakespeare was in his mind because he wanted to prove thesuperiority of American Nation as sound as American Literature. The protagonist of thenovel, Captain Ahab, is comparable with Macbeth and Lear in many a(prenominal) ways. Also thesetting of the novel and language of the novel are equivalent those of Shakespeares plays. The construction of Ahab as the tragic hero-villain, his ma dness and blasphemous behaviour, the Shakespearean dramatic technique, the Shakespearean language and parallel scenes are the things which Melville borrows from Shakespeare. Though the depiction of character and the construction of the novel are Shakespearean, the novels wideness lies in its originality.Melville creates Ahab in the model of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Melvillesconception of Ahab as a tragic character was made achievable by this immersion inShakespearean tragedy. Shakespearean tragic heroes, for congresswoman Macbeth and Lear areblinded by hubris or pride. They are tragic because of their geological fault in judgment. CaptainAhab also becomes tragic because of the error in judgment. Ahabs misfortune is brought1upon him not by vice and depravity but... ...ck. Hertfordshire Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2002.Melville, Herman. Hawthrone and His Mosses. Moby-Dick. Ed. Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker. newfound York and London Norton and Company, 1967. 535-551. Melvilles Moby-Dick. Wow Essays.15 September 2008 Olson, Charles. Ahab and His Fool. Moby-Dick. Ed.Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker. New York and London Norton and Company, 1967.648-651.Shakespeare, William. male monarch Lear. Surrey Thomas Nelson and Son Ltd, 1997.Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2001.13Shakespeare, William. Othello. London Penguin Books Limited, 1968.Smith, Sidney. Who Reads an American Book? peachy Epochs in American History. 15 (1820) pars. 4. 26 June 2008 14