青年莎士比亚

西方对于莎士比亚的研究，大概和国内红学家们对于红楼梦的热情差不多，一群狂热的学者对着几个世纪前的文字抽丝剥茧，乐此不疲。作为同时代的剧作家，马洛才华横溢，英年早逝。对于他的人生，除了与「间谍」和「异教徒」连在一起，也不乏种种坊间传言。

有些人认为马洛当年伪造了自己的死亡，改头换面，以莎士比亚的名字和身份继续生活。提出这种观点的人发现，马洛和莎士比亚都是1564年出生。莎士比亚的受洗日是4月26日，和马洛相差两个月。莎士比亚出生于斯特拉特福，于18岁时结婚。但是从1585年到1592年间，几乎没有关于莎士比亚生活的任何记录，被称为行踪成谜的岁月，直到1592年，伦敦的剧院中才开始出现莎士比亚的记录，与马洛的死亡年份相差一年。

这种说法曾经一度非常流行。1895年Wilbur Ziegler在「那是马洛」一书中认为是马洛创作了「哈姆雷特」。到了1901年，这个观点似乎得到了科学支持，因为当Thomas Mendenhall用数理统计的方法来研究写作风格时，发现马洛和莎士比亚两人的作品有明显的词频共性。美国戏剧评论家Calvin Hoffman也很支持马洛假说，甚至在马洛的母校创建基金，除了奖励戏剧写作的优秀学生，还为能够找到无可辩驳的证据支持马洛假说的人提供资助。尽管第二个条件从来没有人能够达到。

现在，只有「亨利六世」被大部分学者认同为马洛和莎士比亚共同创作，其余的巧合只能说是一种美好的想象吧。就像我们愿意相信西子泛舟，玉环东渡一样，马洛充满激情与力量的一生，后世的旁观者们也不希望它匆匆落幕。历史上的马洛恣意放荡，蔑视规则，和莎士比亚的谨慎谦卑宛如镜像。与其说谁取代了谁，不如说他们更像是天才的一体两面，相反相成相生。

Thomas Mendenhall 维基百科
Calvin Hoffman 维基百科
Wilbur G. Zeigler 维基百科

【Episode 1】
「Better to die righteous than to burn for fear.」

「Who are you? → No one.
No one? → No one... Yet.
Yet? Seems this no one desires to be someone.」

「We cannot rule unless we rule our subjects' minds.」

「God gives us rules, not choices. → Is it such a sin to want to be who I am?」

「Hold a mirror up to nature.」

「You owe me your life, master Shakespeare.」



【Episode 2】
「Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.」

「Greatness comes at a cost.」

「Onstage, I can be a king. Surely you've seen me act?
↓
Men pretending to be something they're not. I get that for free.」

「What I am and what I wish to be are not one and the same.」

「It is my belief that true genius cannot be bound. It must exist in the swirling chaos of anarchy.」



【Episode 3】
「Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; <Hamlet>」



【Episode 4】
「Meet me in hell? → And I'll take you to heaven.」

「To find greatness, you must travel alone.」

「Plays that will serve as explorations of what is human. The mind, the soul. Plays that question how we love and why we fight. Plays that show us how much and how little we know.」



【Episode 5】
「Love does not alter when it alteration finds, but bears it out, even to the edge of doom. It is an ever-fixed mark.」



【Episode 6】
「Something wicked this way comes... <Macbeth>」

「The world needs your brilliance, and you need to shine or you'll gutter like a flame without air.
↓
How can I shine when I have nothing inside me but darkness?」

「I sold my soul for you love, and I would not change it for an eternity of redemption.」

「Expectation is the root of all heartache.」

「You will always be my husband and father to our children. But this is your world, not mine. I leave you free to be what it is you wish to be.」



【Episode 7】
「If your love cost me my soul, then here's to damnation darling. I shall see thee in hell.」

「Is hell real?
↓
Very.
↓
Then show me the devil. If I'm already damned, I may as well get something out of the bargain. I want to sell my soul.」

「Your play pokes fun at love. Perhaps the ending eludes you because love eludes you. But your options are to wallow or keep trying.」

「Where? Where is he?! I see nothing! Do you think I'm a fool? You sold me lies! You gave me hope! But there... is nothing.
↓
Shakepeare saw.
↓
Tricks! Drugs! Weak minds and lies!
↓
Faith! He saw because he believes. But you have nothing because you believe in nothing. You are nothing.」

「You English are all faggots!」hahahaha...



【Episode 8】
「Some fight with a sword. You fight with a pen. We must all be the hero we were born to be.」

「Where is the place that men call hell?(Under the heaven.) Aye. But whereabout?(Within the depths...) Within the water!(Within the bowels of these elements, where we are tortured...) And remain...(And remain forever.) Forever?(Hell hath no limits, kit, nor is it circumscribed in one self place. Where we are is hell, and where hell is, then we must ever be.) Then I am damned.」

「Why do you push away everyone who loves you?
↓
No one loves the damned, Tommy.
↓
God knows I tried, but I lost thee.
↓
You cannot lose what you never had.」

「Go to hell. → I tried. Apparently, it is empty, and all the devils are here.」



【Episode 9】
「And thus I clothe my naked villainy, and seem a saint when most I play the devil. <Richard III>」



【Episode 10】
「Better to die on our feet than live on our knees.」

「I will never hurt you, Kit. → Of course you will, Tommy. That's what love is.」

「Master Shakespeare, I am unaccustomed to having friends.
↓
I beg of you, come to our play.
↓
Your wish is my command.」

「The devil on stage. Well done, master Shakespeare.
↓
Thank you... for it all. Did you find something to believe in?
↓
Belief is just a state of mind.
↓
That's good.
↓
I know.」