Germaine Greer

The man who made England

Germaine Greer on how William Shakespeare, whose birthday falls today, created a coherent view of an autonomous England

issue 23 April 2005

My father was about as English as they come. Though he was born and educated in Australia, he talked like an Englishman, dressed like an Englishman, and behaved as he thought an English gentleman would behave, which was several degrees better than the real thing. His manner was as easy, affable and unflappable as any true-born Englishman’s.

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