Shakespeare and the Bible

Abstract

In the Armenian reality the translations of Shakespeare’s works have been studied from diverse perspectives – text equivalence, choice of words, fidelity to style and poeticism. The Armenian classical translator Hovhannes Massehian was the first who investigated the imagery of the original and Biblical allusions. He revealed the Biblical language of Shakespeare and used Armenian equivalents in his interpretations. The most successful translations of 12 Shakespearean works by Massehyan confirm the invaluable contribution that the Armenian translator made in the history of the art of translation in Armenia.