The BA Celebrates William Shakespeare’s Anniversary
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Alexandria—
The BA held the Annual Shakespeare Conference, “The Infinite Variety of Shakespeare” on Wednesday, 23 April 2008. The one-day conference included lectures by renowned Professor John Andrews, Director of the Shakespeare Guild; Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria; and Dr. Sahar Hamouda, English Professor, University of Alexandria and Deputy Director, BA Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center.
Professor John Andrews’ lecture “Old Light on Antony and Cleopatra” and focused on reviving the Shakespearean theatrical experience by revealing the original meaning of some words and expressions, and adhering to the original structures, which were thought to be typos or differences in spelling of words and do not necessarily add meaning.
Dr. Serageldin’s lecture “Richard II: Reflections on Language and Meaning” explained Shakespeare’s usage of language to convey meanings. He presented the characteristics of the Shakespearean poetic language and praised Shakespeare’s ability to reveal to his audience new aspects of their own identity.
Dr. Sahar Hamouda gave the last lecture entitled “Cleopatra as Alexandria in Western Literature”, in which she addressed the resemblance between Queen Cleopatra’s character and the city of Alexandria and how Shakespeare depicted Cleopatra as an invader in the Western Literature, and the development of his vision of Cleopatra, based on her historical origin, to a seductive woman. Dr. Hamouda discussed the character of Cleopatra and the city of Alexandria through several literary texts.
Following the academic lectures, students from the English Department, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University, performed a modern Shakespeare-based musical entitled “The Immortal Dead”