Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide - Nick Groom, Piero 2013

The Englishness of Shakespeare?

Is this cosmopolitan Shakespeare — available worldwide — still a defining model of Englishness? Or is this an example of English cultural imperialism? The problem of resorting to Shakespeare for definitions of Englishness is that he is just as interested in Britishness, albeit at a time when “Britain” did not exactly mean the same thing as it does today. For example, in Henry V (III.iii.122-4), the Irish officer Macmorris wonders …

WHAT ISH MY NATION? ISH A VILLAIN, AND A BASTARD, AND A KNAVE, AND A RASCAL? WHAT ISH MY NATION? WHO TALKS OF MY NATION?