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

In 1820 in the Edinburgh Review Sidney Smith said In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? (par. 4). That was the conventional idea concerning American Literature to the conservative British writers. But Melville proved this assumption of the British writers reproach not by arguing with them but by producing a huge work which in its quality is comparable to Shakespe aran great tragedies.Melvilles chef-doeuvre Moby-Dick consists of thousands of references, but speciallyreferences of Shakespeare are in abundance in this book. When Melville wrote this new(a), next to the Bible Shakespeare was in his mind because he wanted to prove thesuperiority of American Nation as well as American Literature. The protagonist of thenovel, Captain Ahab, is comparable with Macbeth and Lear in many ways. Also thesetting of the novel and language of the novel are like those of Shakespeares plays. The construction of Ahab as the tragic hero-villain, his madness and blasphemous behav iour, the Shakespearean dramatic technique, the Shakespearean language and parallel scenes are the things which Melville borrows from Shakespeare. though the portrayal of character and the construction of the novel are Shakespearean, the novels greatness lies in its originality.Melville creates Ahab in the model of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Melvillesconception of Ahab as a tragic character was made possible by this immersion inShakespearean tragedy. Shakespearean tragic heroes, for example Macbeth and Lear areblinded by hubris or pride. They are tragic because of their error 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. New 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. King 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? Great Epochs in American History. 15 (1820) pars. 4. 26 June 2008 14