Professor Egan gives lecture on Shakespeare's plays and sonnets

On the morning of 8 November 2023, at the invitation of the Confucius Institute of De Montfort University (USTB-DMU CI), Professor Gabriel Egan gave an in-person lecture entitled “Reading Shakespeare’s Works”. The lecture, hosted by Ms. GU Wei, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute, and all the CI staff attended the lecture.

The lecture began with Ms. GU’s introduction of Professor Egan, a renowned DMU professor of Shakespeare Studies, Director of the Centre for Textual Studies at De Montfort University, and one of the four General Editors of the New Oxford Shakespeare. He has published a number of works on Shakespeare and got great achievement especially in digital Shakespeare studies.

Using “Romeo and Juliet” as an example, Professor Egan gave an in-depth explanation of the rhyme of Shakespeare’s sonnets and connotations contained in them, analyzing the relationship between the last words of each sentence and the theme of the drama. He also invited volunteer teachers to join him to sing the highlights of "Romeo and Juliet" together, which helped participants to further interpret and experience the rhythmic beauty of Shakespeare's sonnets and the profound meaning behind it. His witty remarks and easy-to-understand explanations made the lecture very enjoyable and welcomed.

At the end of the lecture, Director GU Wei made a summary, pointing out that Professor Egan’s detailed analysis of Shakespeare’s sonnets will help volunteer teachers further understand British culture, thus improving their cultural communication skills and teaching ability. On behalf of USTB-DMU Confucius Institute, she also expressed her sincere gratitude to Professor Egan for giving the lecture. The lecture ended with a warm round of applause!

Draft: MA Xinrui

Revision: GU Wei & LIU Jieli