Love and Lust in Shakespeare and His Chinese Counterpart

Lecture by Maoqing Chen, University of Oregon Confucius Institute

In different cultural contexts, Shakespeare (1564-1616) and his contemporary Chinese counterpart Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) created dramatic masterpieces that transcend space and time. This talk is to elaborate upon the parallels and disparities between the two giants in terms of the representation of the universal motifs such as love, incest, zoophilia and avarice for power. It also touches upon the reception of Shakespeare in China and Tang Xianzu’s Peony Pavilion on American stage.

Dr. Maoqing Chen, Courtesy Co-Director of the University of Oregon Confucius Institute, Associate Professor of East China Normal University in Shanghai, Fulbright research scholar at the University of California at Irvine (2013-14), author of the book Dream and Drama: A Comparative Study of Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare (2008) and dozens of papers in comparative literature, intercultural theatre and applied linguistics.