A Study of the English Translation of the Lyrics in the Sichuan Opera Lady Macbeth

Xiao Wenwen; Gu  Yunfei

doi:10.47310/iarjhss.2022.v03i02.009

Xiao Wenwen Lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Leshan Normal College, China
Gu Yunfei Lecturer, College of Foreign Languages, Leshan Normal University, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47310/iarjhss.2022.v03i02.009

Keywords: Lady Macbeth; Lyric; Chinese-English Translation; Three Beauties

Abstract

Lady Macbeth, a Sichuan opera, is adapted by Xu Fen, from Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s plays. This play has made great influence in China and other countries, and it is regarded as the communication through time and space. Then Liana Chen translated it into English. The lyrics in the play show the plot and the mind of Lady Macbeth, and it’s not easy to translate these lyrics. This paper takes several of them as the examples, based on “Three Beauties” of Xu Yuanchong, to find out the difficulties in translating lyrics in the opera, points out that “Three Beauties” can also be applied to translating lyrics, and tries to provide some reference for the future lyric translation in the opera.