"Hurry, hurry!"

Dani lifted the hem of her skirt and ran as she turned back to urge her best friend.

Vivien laughed at the back, "Dany, you should be a lady, it's just an art lecture." ”

"Mr. Zhou is no ordinary writer, I heard that he is regarded as a master in France and the United States, and the whole continent is captivated by his literary talent." Dani said excitedly.

Writers, especially the great writers, had a particularly high social status in the 20th century, often becoming guests of the aristocracy and the rich, and even the objects of the actors' frenzied pursuit of befriending.

Hollywood superstar Marilyn Monroe is so red that she turns purple, and she often takes photos with books by Joyce, Whitman, Samuel and others. She also often drank and drugged with left-wing writers, as if she could become a young woman in this way, only to attract secret surveillance by American agents.

When Vivien Leigh first met her second husband Oliver, Oliver was just a well-known expert on Shakespeare's plays, so she became fascinated by Vivien and eloped with Oliver behind her husband's back to the United States.

Looking at the entire first half of the 20th century, whether in the East or the West, as long as you have the halo of a writer on your head, even if you have no money in your pocket, there are a lot of girls who are willing to share the joys and sorrows with you. Among them, there are many rich girls who pursue romance, who do not hesitate to fall out with their families completely, and also want to become the muse of poor writers.

Although Vivian made fun of her best friend's unreservedness, she subconsciously quickened her pace and quickly came to the place where Zhou Hexuan gave a speech. It is a large drama room, which is not only used for teaching, but also for students to rehearse and perform.

Although the Royal College of Art is very famous, the number of students is not large, the total number of students in the school is only a few hundred, and almost all of them have come to listen to the lectures today.

"It's coming, look!" Dani suddenly pointed to the classroom door.

Vivien hurriedly looked up, only to see Mr. Principal talking and laughing with an Asian, followed by several school professors.

Dani was surprised: "It's different from what I imagined, Mr. Zhou is so tall, at least 6 feet (1.82 meters) tall, I thought Asians were very short." ”

"There are tall people in Asia, too, but most of them are thinner." Vivien corrected. Although she has never been to China, she grew up in India, where her father was a British officer in India, which also belongs to Asia.

Dani became more and more excited: "Mr. Zhou is very handsome, and he has the bearing of a successful person, I really want to develop a beautiful international friendship with him." By the way, Mary, is it possible for Asian men to have many wives? ”

Vivien wasn't sure, "Seems so." ”

Dani laughed, "It's a weird marriage system, but I'm not going to be his wife, I'd rather be his lover." ”

Vivien listened to her more and more outrageous, looked around nervously, and reminded, "Be quiet, beware of being heard." ”

Dani lowered her voice and asked, "Mary, is there still an emperor in China?" ”

"Like...... Yes. Vivien was a little confused.

"Maybe Mr. Zhou is still a Chinese nobleman," said Dani, "and if he had a knighthood, I would not mind being one of his wives, and I would be Madame Sir by then." ”

The aristocratic culture of Britain is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, not to mention now, even in the 21st century.

Princess Kate, who was born in a commoner in later generations, was despised by the traditional aristocratic circle everywhere because her mother was a flight attendant. Her mother was even forbidden to attend some aristocratic gatherings, because her words and deeds were so vulgar that traditional nobles felt embarrassed.

Historically, after Vivian divorced her second husband, she kept her husband's surname, just because her ex-husband was a baron, and the title "Baroness" had a lot of face.

This worship of the aristocracy also affected the British colonies, and the Chinese in Hong Kong who were granted titles were eager to engrave their titles on their heads. Before Run Run Shaw received the knighthood, the Hong Kong media called him "Shao Sheng" and "Boss Shao", and after receiving the knighthood, he immediately changed his name to "Sir Shao".

In the words of our party, these are the remnants of feudal ideology, the remnants of imperial power ideology that must be eradicated!

The president of the Royal Academy of Art first stepped onto the stage and ceremoniously introduced Zhou Hexuan, and then took the lead in applauding his arrival.

After a while, Zhou Hexuan began his solo performance, and he smiled: "You are all artistic coquettes, and I don't understand art, so I won't show ugliness in front of everyone." Today, I would like to discuss Shakespeare's plays with you from the perspective of linguistics......"

Vivian's eyes lit up in the audience, her favorite was Shakespeare, she didn't expect Zhou Hexuan to talk about this today.

Zhou Hexuan saw that the teachers and students in the audience were listening carefully, and he continued: "Rhetoric was an important means of literary creation in the English Renaissance, and Shakespeare's masterpieces used a large number of figures of speech in various forms, among which similes and metaphors are the most prominent. In the case of Shakespeare's four great tragedies, there are 170 passages describing life, about 61 passages with metaphors and about 10 passages with similes. ”

"There is a place in Macbeth that says: 'Life is like a withered yellow leaf', which is a cyclical conceptual metaphor that expresses that 'life is the withering glory of plants'. Another example is "King Lear" in "Doom is a stone and a bow and arrow", and "Suffering is the sea", which is a spiritual metaphor that expresses the ...... that "life is an ordeal".

"From a rhetorical point of view, simile is formally alike, while metaphor is conjunctive. In drama and literature, metaphor must possess the principle of appropriateness to provide cognitive explanations for the use of similes and metaphors. For example, there is a sentence in Othello that 'lives like the master's donkey', and the metaphorical 'donkey' is a typical representative of the category 'enslaved', and the suitability of the metaphor is high, so Shakespeare chooses a simile here. ”

"I believe that human language ability is not necessarily an independent ability, it must be closely related to people's general cognitive ability. The expression of similes and metaphors in literary and dramatic works is exactly in line with this cognitive ability, so the use of similes and metaphors can greatly enhance the drama and appeal of the work. Shakespeare was very good at using metaphor to create tragedy......"

Most of the students in the audience listened in a daze, but the teachers at the Royal College of Art were excited.

Zhou Hexuan is another big move, Shakespeare's plays have always been the focus of research in the drama critics' circles. But it wasn't until the 70s that researchers used Shakespeare's metaphor as a way to recognize tragic poetry, and Zhou Hexuan threw out this research direction 40 years in advance.

Not only that, Zhou Hexuan also added the concept of "cognitive linguistics" in the process of his speech. "Cognitive linguistics", as a sub-discipline of linguistics, did not begin to take shape until the late 80s.

This academic lecture was undoubtedly a drop of two atomic bombs in the theater and language circles.

The professors of the Royal Academy of Arts, who listened to the lecture on the spot, were about to be blown up at the moment, and Zhou Hexuan seemed to have opened the door to a new world for them.

Zhou Hexuan is not very clear about this, because what he said belongs to the common sense of drama in the 21st century, as long as anyone who has studied Shakespeare's plays knows that he is careless and ahead of the times.

"Boom!"

"Bang bang bang!"

All the teachers of the school stood up and slapped wildly, and the principal rushed to the stage excitedly to shake hands with Zhou Hexuan.

Zhou Hexuan looked at the principal's feverish eyes and thought: Is this special?