ABSTRACT – MEDIA – SUNDAY TELEGRAPH – 10/01/2006 Patrick Hennessy – FOR WILL, ENGLAND AND SAINT GEORGE. With many calls for England to declare April 23rd an annual National Holiday to commemorate
ST. George’s
DAY, there is now a call from some leading MP’s, To make the day William Shakespeare day, as the Bard Of Stratford is believed to have been both born) 1564) and to have died on April 23rd. (1616) John Reid hopes to make the date as memorable as the Scottish Burns Nights where Scots celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns, their own nationally revered poet. Recent campaigns to have a national St. George’s Day Bank Holiday have backfired, as many politicians believe that the extreme right groups, such as the BNP with stir up patriotic hate against foreign visitors and refugees and migrants. Tessa Jowell, and Home Secretary, John Reid fully back the campaign for Shakespeare Day though some businesses fear a loss of revenue if Britain gains an extra work free occasion. The conflict between St. George’s Day campaigners and Shakespeare Day supporters has led to online petitioning. Many are upset that England neglects it patron Saint while Ireland loudly celebrates that for St. Patrick every March 17th. In an accompanying feature on the same page (p.7) the Telegraph declares that many A-Level students do not gain enough knowledge about the Bard in their literature courses to be able to follow their studies on him further in university study. In the editorial commentary, on page twenty-two, the Telegraph editor adds that Shakespeare is recognised for his greatness universally, being translated far and wide. Even his
plays have a setting in many lands, Scotland for Macbeth, Rome for Julius Caesar, and other Roman plays, etc. There is a sense here that England cannot and should not hijack Shakespeare as its own.