“Why do we still appreciate Romeo and Juliet?”
On the afternoon of Oct. 14th, invited by the Institute of English Literature, Dr. William Leahy, the dean of the Art College of Brunel University and the expert on Shakespeare’s literature, delivered an excellent lecture on Shakespeare’s famous drama Romeo and Juliet. The lecture was hosted by Professor GAO Fen, the head of the institute.
Dr. Leahy has devoted himself to the research and teaching of Shakespeare’s literature for many years, writing some works like Elizabethan Triumphal Processions (2005), Shakespeare and His Authors Critical Perspectives on the Authorship Question (2010) and many essays. He started the lecture, which was titled “why do we still appreciate Romeo and Juliet?”, from Shakespeare’s life and the plots in Romeo and Juliet, making the complicated items like the romance, the charm, and the value of art in this story simple while expressing his own opinions. Through reading and analyzing the excerpts from the work, he pointed out that it is not a romanticism drama which it is known as today. Judging from the time and the historical background in which Shakespeare wrote the drama, this drama emphasized the tragedy caused by their secret marriage without permit and fight against family’s interests, having a humanizing influence on people’s social standards at that time. But people nowadays are more touched by the pure love between Romeo and Juliet. Consequently, he thinks that the meaning of the drama changes as time goes on. The lecture was filled with interactions under an active atmosphere. Dr. Leahy’s excellent speech and the audience’s humor caused peals of laughter. They all paid close attention to the lecture in high spirits.
The lecture won great applause. Teachers and students also asked questions about Shakespeare and his works, such as Shakespeare’s display of the true love, the British style in Romeo and Juliet, the popularity of Shakespeare’s works nowadays, and the value of researching Shakespeare’s works, which were all explained by Dr. Leahy in detail. They were all filled with admirations for Dr. Leahy’s humorous way of delivering a lecture, and got a deeper understanding of the greatest British playwright, Shakespeare, and benefited a great deal from this lecture.
(Translated by WEI Chunyu)
