Two-day seminar on Shakespeare begins

GAYA: Blaming the Muslim clerics for educational backwardness of the community, Magadh University vice-chancellor (VC) Md Ishtiaq on Sunday exhorted the youth of the community to join the mainstream and seek empowerment through education, the only gateway to success and accomplishment. The VC, while inaugurating a two-day seminar on Shakespeare at Mirza Ghalib College here, said there was no shortcut to success and it has to be earned the hard way.
The two-day seminar has been organised by the post graduate English department of the college to mark the fourth centenary of the death of William Shakespeare.
In his key note address, B N Sahay, retired professor of English, Magadh University, said Shakespeare was undoubtedly the greatest poet-cum-playwright of all time. “Shakespeare should not be tied in a particular timeframe or geographical boundary. His influence was very much discernible on all great literatures across the world,” Sahay said.
Syed Afroz Ashrafi of department of English, College of Commerce, Patna, regretted that both Shakespeare and his characters have been stereotyped. “It was time to deconstruct Shakespeare and his characters and study them with a refreshingly new approach and there was enough scope to do that. Shakespeare’s reappraisal would be the real tribute to the great poet/playwright in the fourth centenary of his demise,” he said.
Guest of honour Rahmat Jahan, head of the MU English department, said Shakespeare did not need certification for his creative work.
Ainul Haque, HoD, English, MG College, Gaya, said the two-day seminar would discuss different aspects of Shakespeare’s work, including his plot construction, art of characterisation, sense of humour, use of imagery and supernatural elements in his plays.
Others who attended the seminar included S K Bardhan (University of Burdwan), M N Anjum, director, Academy of Foreign Languages, A K Sunil, Prasun Banerjee and Neeraj Kumar.