In the book "European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages"，German Romance philologist Ernst Robert Curtius roughly sorted out how "theatre metaphor" sneaked into literary creation after the Renaissance from ancient religious and philosophical thoughts in Europe，And attracted the attention of later generations of scholars on bet365 score issue。The so-called theater metaphor，It is like comparing the world to a theater，Compare life to a play。bet365 score metaphor can be shortened to theater mundi in Latin，That is, "the world's big stage"。Of course，bet365 score statement can also be expressed in different forms，It is said that there is a Latin motto Totus mundus agit histrionem hanging on the door of Shakespeare's Globe Theater，Means "The whole world is a theater"。

As proposed by Curtius，Theatre metaphor originated in ancient Greece，Disappeared as theater performances declined in Europe，Reappeared in the late Middle Ages with the prosperity of drama，By the Renaissance it could be seen everywhere，became a cliché or even a cliché at the time。However，Curtius only roughly clarified the development of theater metaphor，Not much discussion of bet365 score metaphor popular during the Renaissance。We might as well follow Curtius’ logic，Additional explanation of theater metaphors in bet365 score period。

　　Direct reference to bet365 score

As everyone knows，The most famous Renaissance expression of theater metaphor appears in Shakespeare's As You Like It。In bet365 score play, Act 2, Scene 7，The character Duke in the play mentioned "the stage of the vast universe"，Immediately afterwards Jaques made a famous statement: "The whole world is a stage，All men and women are just actors；They all end up sometimes，There are also times when they play。”Except “As You Like It”，Shakespeare has direct references to theater metaphors in plays such as "Macbeth" and "The Merchant of Venice"。After his failure, Macbeth realizes the nihility of life as a play: "Life is but a walking shadow，A poor actor gesticulating on the stage，A moment of appearance，Just quietly retreated in silence。"Antonio in "The Merchant of Venice" said: "I regard bet365 score world as just one world，Everyone must play a role on bet365 score stage，I play a sad role。”

Cervantes, another representative figure of Renaissance literature, also explicitly mentioned theater metaphor。In "Don Quixote" Part 2, Chapter 12，Don Quixote preached to his servant Sancho about the "big stage of life": "The same is true on the stage of life"，"Someone is the emperor，Someone is an archbishop，Anyway，There are all the characters in the play。I’ve had enough in bet365 score life，Life has come to an end，The play is over。The God of Death stripped everyone of their costumes to play various roles，Everyone is in the grave，Everyone looks the same again”。The interesting thing is，Sancho’s reaction after hearing bet365 score is thought-provoking: “bet365 score is a wonderful analogy”，“But，bet365 score statement is not new，I’ve heard that many times”。

In addition to these two great writers，Other Renaissance writers also frequently mentioned theater metaphors。Desiderius Erasmus mentioned the metaphor of the world as a stage many times in "Ode to Fools"，As in "Life is just another comedy，Before returning to the dressing room，We are just wearing another person's mask and playing a role，The same actor can also wear a suit and become a king，You can also change your clothes and become a beggar。Therefore，Everything appears in disguise，Otherwise the play cannot be performed”。Late 16th century，The great British poet Edmund Spenser mentioned at the beginning of No. 54 of "The Little Love Song": "We perform on the stage of bet365 score world，My lover sits like a spectator，Watch my performances。”

Entering the 17th century，Britain and Spain are the most prosperous theater performances，Theater metaphors are especially common。The English playwright John Webster said in Act 1, Scene 2 of the comedy "Northward" he co-wrote around 1605: "The world is a stage，We borrow all kinds of strange images from it: Today we are honest，I will become a scoundrel tomorrow。"The heroine of another of his plays "The Duchess of Malfi" also mentioned in Act 4, Scene 1: "I regard bet365 score world as a boring theater，Because the role I played in it was not what I wanted。”1612，British playwright Thomas Heywood mentioned in "In Defense of the Actor": "The world is a theater，The earth is the stage...Who denies the existence of bet365 score theater，It’s like denying my whole world。"The playwright Thomas Middleton mentioned in Act 5, Scene 3 of the 1624 play "The Game": "The world is a stage，All the characters are performed on it。”In the preface to another play, The Respectable Argument，Middleton mentioned again: "bet365 score big universe，bet365 score great world，It’s just a stage，Everyone must play their role。”In addition，Ben Jonson, who was as famous as Shakespeare at the time, mentioned in his 1629 play "The New Inn": "I imagined the whole world to be a play: the country，Everyone and everything，All stages of life，New scenes are being staged；Come in，Get out，Transform，disappeared。”around 1635，Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca created a religious mystery play called "World Stage"，Expresses the theme that humans have a role to play in the world，Make your choice with your own free will，Thus receiving rewards or punishments after death。

　The Origin and Evolution bet365 score

It’s not difficult to find，In such a rich discussion of theater metaphors，Some writers emphasize the emptiness of life，Some focus on the change of life roles，Others clearly stated that life is a comedy。The reason why theater metaphors in Renaissance literature are so popular and have such rich connotations，Has a lot to do with contemporary people’s reinterpretation of theater metaphors。In ancient times and the Middle Ages，Although the theater metaphor has been mentioned by many people，But people understand bet365 score metaphor more from a pessimistic perspective。bet365 score view was epitomized by the medieval Christian scholar John of Salisbury。In John’s opinion，The world is a stage、The metaphor that life is a drama confirms the tragic tone of life，That is, human hypocrisy、Vanity and the Inevitability of Death。bet365 score is of course not unrelated to the theological implications implicit in the theater metaphor and the medieval ideological tradition of "devaluing the world"。

Since the world is a stage，Life is a drama，Then there should be tragedy and comedy，The joy of life should also be its proper meaning。At the Renaissance，With the rise of humanism，Some scholars began to understand theater metaphor from bet365 score perspective。15th century，The Italian thinker Marsilio Ficino reversed the late medieval scholastic emphasis on Aristotle，Revived Platonism to a great extent。Although Ficino’s interpretation of theater metaphor continues the religious setting of the nihility of life，But obviously much more optimistic than John of Salisbury，He emphasizes the rewards of kindness and the secondary divinity of man。Therefore，For Ficino，Life is not just a play (drama)，It is also a play (ludus，Game)，So life can be a tragedy (tragoedia)，It can also be comedy (comoedia)。

So，After Ficino，Gameplay becomes a new connotation of theater metaphor。Because humans have a certain divinity，One of the purposes of God’s creation of man is to provide Himself with entertainment and performance。bet365 score idea was carried forward by the Spanish humanist Juan-Luis Vives。In a booklet，Vives wrote such a story:

Once upon a time there was a day，After Juno held a lavish birthday party for the gods... Juno earnestly asked her brother and husband Jupiter to improvise an amphitheater based on the general theatrical style，And bring new actors for the performance... so with Jupiter's order，The whole world suddenly appeared... bet365 score is the amphitheater: the highest one reaching to heaven is the throne of the gods，The bottom (some say it is the middle) earth is the stage where the actors perform，Also included in the show are animals and everything else...really，The moment when Jupiter’s voice and instructions are conveyed to the actors，They took turns on the stage，Skilled and graceful...performing tragedy、Comedy、Satire、Mime、Farce and other dramas，Let the gods feel that they have never seen such a wonderful sight...Human beings are wiser、Prudent、Memory and other aspects participate in Jupiter’s immortality，Shared so much of his gifts，so that it is easy to know that these gifts are gifts from Jupiter。（A Fable about Man）

At the end of bet365 score story，The gods were amazed at humans’ ability to change roles，It was even discovered that humans can play gods。So，Human beings are invited to feast with the gods，It’s fun。Obviously，In bet365 score story，The purpose of human creation is not to praise and glorify God’s power as emphasized in the Middle Ages，But partakes of God’s power and even divinity，Finally acknowledged and even praised by God。bet365 score kind of thinking is obviously based on optimism and comedy，Therefore，The drama of life should also be a happy comedy。To bet365 score point，The basic connotation of theater metaphor has been perfected in both tragedy and comedy。

　bet365 score at the narrative level

If we analyze along bet365 score line of thinking, we will find，At the narrative level，Theater metaphors can be seen everywhere in Renaissance literature，And it can be divided into at least two levels，That is, the tragic level and the comic level。

On a tragic level，The core connotation of theater metaphor is，People not only have to play many roles，And we must play these roles appropriately，Don’t face the reality and darkness of human nature。Understood bet365 score，We will find out，Many works of the Renaissance can be reasonably explained from the perspective of theater metaphor。The tragedy of Macbeth is naturally that he played a role that he should not have played，After some tossing, I finally realized the futility of life。Hamlet’s tragedy is also that his self-awareness is too strong，Be aware that you are performing at all times，Therefore unable to enter the role set for him in life。Hamlet and Iago in "Othello"、Same as Edmund in "King Lear"，They are all extremely clear-headed reflectors，It’s just that the latter two are comfortable in their villain roles，Hamlet is overwhelmed with the burden of remaking the world。

From bet365 score aspect，The tragedies of Othello and Romeo are similar。They both try to penetrate into the soul of their lover，See the "essence" of the other party，Thus leaving no room for acting and role-playing。Before meeting Juliet，Romeo has a love interest named Rosaline，bet365 score love is full of exaggerated comedy。After meeting Juliet，The love between the two is also a comic love at first sight。But not before getting married in secret，The nature of bet365 score love has changed，Therefore Juliet sighed: "The richness of love is not in the beauty of words，Not a rhetorical modification，But in its content and essence。" Desdemona also said when she confessed her love to Othello in public: "My heart is completely conquered by his noble virtue；I first get to know his heart，Then get to know his magnificent appearance；I have given him my soul and my destiny。”bet365 score is completely opposite to the love at first sight in comedy。Pursue the soul、Soul、Ideological and substantive love naturally does not allow for the presence of performance elements，But bet365 score violates the principle of "the world's big stage"，No wonder Shakespeare set bet365 score kind of love into a tragedy。

The tragedy of King Lear is similar to the previous two，I just made the mistake on the level of family relationships。In the face of Lear’s family test，Cordelia emphasizes her role in life，Clearly declares that she is both a daughter and a wife，But Lear could not understand bet365 score，Require her to fully immerse herself in the role of daughter。Lear and Cordelia did not understand the meaning of bet365 score "world stage" in the end，Cordelia insists that inner truth is more important than rhetorical role-playing，Lear went from one extreme to the other，From the beginning, the daughter was asked to only play the role of daughter，Later I realized the hypocrisy of human nature，Facing the dark depths of human nature。Because of bet365 score，Shakespeare arranged the ending for both of them to die after victory。Therefore，In analyzing the tragic aspects of theater metaphor，"King Lear" can be said to be the culmination of Shakespeare's tragedies。

On a comedy level，The core scene of theater metaphor is the identity game。The identity game is one of the most important plot techniques in comedy，It is also a more advanced comedy technique，Various interchangeable identities that often appear in Renaissance comedies、Female disguised as a man、Mistaken identity scene, etc.，They are all manifestations of the identity game。As in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew，Drunk Sly is teased by a nobleman，Wake up and find that your identity has become a noble，A series of jokes，bet365 score change of roles and identities often brings unexpected comedy effects。Understood bet365 score，We will also find out，In fact, many literary scenes are related to bet365 score identity game。As in a sense，The scene at the Ducal Palace in Part II of "Don Quixote" is also a variation of bet365 score comedy technique，It can be called a large-scale identity game reality show。In bet365 score extremely long scene，The Duke and Duchess play a trick on Don Quixote，Not giving Don Quixote a new identity，It only confirms Don Quixote’s own imaginary knighthood，The purpose of making fun of him was also achieved，The comedy effect is very obvious。

Renaissance period，Novel and popular reading are far from rising，Drama occupies a mainstream position in people’s entertainment activities，The world’s largest stage closely related to theatrical performances、It is not surprising that the saying that life is a drama became a cliché at that time。However，Through the above sorting and analysis we will find，The connotation bet365 score is actually very rich，Far beyond the literal meaning of life as a play。

　　(The author is an associate professor bet365 score School of Liberal Arts, Zhengzhou University)