"Shakespeare, at the youth of Great Britain's imperial history, is necessarily fascinated by the accomplished imperialism of ancient Rome. He feels England now as inheriting the great destiny of Rome... You can feel Shakespeare's sense of Rome's supremacy beside the new strength of Britain; which strength, however, must pay due honour to that Roman greatness which is its prototype. The meaning is clearer if we return to the Soothsayer's vision: he saw the Roman eagle as dissolving into the sunbeams of Britain."
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Poets from EnglandPlaywrights from EnglandActors from EnglandPoets from the United KingdomShakespeare
Original Language: English
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Sources
G. Wilson Knight, 'Maiden Phoenix', The Olive and The Sword: A Study of England's Shakespeare (1944), pp. 71, 75
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
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Categories
William Shakespeare
1564 – 1616
englischer Dichter
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