Shakespeare — The Typical Englishman

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 7 (Supplement)

Shakespeare — The Typical Englishman

Shakespaare was our typical Englishman (writes Mr. Stanley Baldwin in "This Torch of Freedom"). Some fools have asked: "Why did Shakespeare go to Stratford.in his old age?" He went back to Stratford because lie was an Englishman, and every Englishman, like the homing pigeon, goes back to the place of his birth. He goes to London to make money and succeed, but he always treasures in his heart the old home. He comes back—as thousands of Englismcn have done —back to the village where he was born, buys a larger

house, and starts, as all good Englishmen do, to found a family. Tliat is the simple explanation. Shakespeare was not only an Englishman, but he was an English countryman, and that was implicit in every line of his plays. Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will find, from the first page of his plays to the last, a. most intimate acquaintance not only with, everything that belonged to the countryside, but to all sports, venerv, falconry, archery, and everything one would expect a countryman to be familiar with.