『도그의 햄릿, 캐훗의 맥베스』: 스토파드의 셰익스피어 창조적 변형

Abstract

It has been told that Tom Stoppard borrowed plots, dialogues, dramatic actions, characters, and dramatic devices from other writers' works. However, he did not merely imitate them, but creatively reconstituted them, put them into new contexts, and gave them new meanings. In short, creative transformations are Stoppard's unique theatrical writing style. The purpose of this study is to investigate what he wants to achieve through his writing style, and how his style contributes to develop his view of theatre through various aspects of creative transformations in Stoppard's Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth. Stoppard explored the content and ideas rather than the forms of the plays, which he had set as his goal in writing his plays. He thought that borrowing from other writers' works was much more economical and effective than originally writing plays on his own. Stoppard used famous classical plays as frameworks of his own plays. Especially, he transformed the works of Shakespeare. He used the Shakespeare's works not to take advantage of the reputation of the plays, but to attract readers/audiences and to enhance the dramatic effect through the familiarity of the plays. Also, it is highly probable that he borrowed from the classical plays to ensure the authenticity of his works. Stoppard tried to escape from the tradition that playwrights generally tend to write about their own experience in their works. He thought that using other writers' works was the most effective way of expressing theatre's artificiality and self-reflective aspects. Other writers' works served as a mirror, through which he was able to reconsider his plays. In conclusion, Stoppard's plays are not merely parasitic imitations or mimicries; they are very meaningful in that other writers' works are transformed and recreated as new type of works. It demonstrates that excellent plays are created not only by using the playwright's imagination, but also through creative transformations.