Literature Review

William Shakespeare (1564#8211;1616), an English poet and playwright, was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world#8217;s pre-eminent dramatist. His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, two epitaphs on a man named John Combe, one epitaph on Elias James, and several other poems.

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness #8211; from overwhelming sorrow to seething rage #8211; and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption and family.

Metaphor is one of the most frequently adopted rhetorical devices in writing. The relationship between ontology and metaphors is potential, therefore, in order to comprehend the profound meaning of the author, we should conduct an oriented study with the help of imagination, deduction and interpretation on the base of superficial meaning. Cognitive conception of metaphor thinks that metaphor is a perceptual and conceptual tool for human beings to understand the world, while modern congnitive conception of metaphor thinks that abstract thinking is expressed by metaphor.

Hamlet, a masterpiece of William Shakespeare, has not only conquered a lot of readers but also attracted much attention of many scholars all over the world since it was published. The charm of Hamlet not only lies in its alluring plot but also in its attractive language, so we should take the language as a standpoint to appreciate it. Since metaphor plays such an important role in many aspects in Hamlet, such as the theme, the characterization, the dialogue and also the environment, we should by no means pay more attention on the application of metaphor in Hamlet. From this perspective, we can better enjoy Shakespeare#8217;s language and also we can get a better understanding of the charm of Hamlet.