Sunday, July 05, 2009


William Shakespeare has been voted Britain’s greatest national treasure. The Bard beat Buckingham Palace into second place, whilst fish and chips came in third, just ahead of Buckingham Palace at number 4. The writer of such famous works as “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare has always been regarded as a British icon. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest playwrights of all time. Apart from writing some of the most powerful tragedies, he has also written some of the funniest comedies ever to appear on an English stage. His plays are classics and feature as set works by many examination boards here. I enjoyed studying Shakepeare's plays at school and remember seeing "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" performed at the RSC as a student. It was excellent. "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" containing all his plays still takes pride of place on my bookshelf. Much of the beauty of the Bard’s work lies in the language more than the actual plot. Many of Shakespeare’s plays contain finely crafted passages. “Some are born great others achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”, in the words of Malvolio a character from Twelfth Night, one of the Bard’s most famous plays. Well according to the results of a poll by Mivvi icecream makers, now it’s official William Shakespeare is the greatest of them all!


Fran Hill said...

Shakespeare, just ahead of fish and chips. That sums up our wonderful nation.

Granimore said...

I've never seen a live performance of Shakespeare, but I've read several of his plays. I did see the Olivia Hussey version of Romeo and Juliet. I cracked up when she's out with her nurse (who has large headwear) and all of Romeo's friends start acting like sailors, "A sail! A sail!" I also remember in English class we were taking turns reading aloud from Julius Caesar, and one of my friends mistakenly pronounced Superbus as Super Bus. I just shook my head in pity.

SandyCarlson said...

Why do I think the Bard would be pleased that fish and chips came in third? Physical and intellectual pleasures are closely related, I think.

smitten by britain said...

I'll second that nomination. Good job Wills.

Naomi said...

Ha ha! It certainly does Fran!

You would enjoy seeing a Shakespeare play Granimore. I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company when I was a student. It was really good.

Yes they are Sandy. You can't beat a bit of Shakespeare with some fish and chips to accompany your viewing pleasure!

I agree Smitten by Britain. Shakespeare was and still is one of Britain's greatest icons.