David Cameron’s controversial claim that multi-ethnic Britain remains a Christian country would be seen as “somewhat wishy-washy” by William Shakespeare if he were alive today.
That’s the view of Shakespeare guru Nicholas Fogg, who will be joining the festive elite in his native Stratford-upon-Avon this coming weekend to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Bard, which officially falls tomorrow (Wednesday).
Town and county councillor Nick Fogg – a former Mayor of Marlborough, as is his wife Edwina – is the celebrated author of Hidden Shakespeare, a highly detailed, significant study of the playwright’s life, successfully sold both here and in America.
What would William Shakespeare have made of David Cameron’s statement that this is a Christian country?
“Well, of course, he could never have considered otherwise,” 72-year-old Nick, presented with an MBE accolade by the Queen last month, told Marlborough News Online.
“His works are permeated by the Christian ethic, but he would have found Cameron’s view’s a little unspecific and wishy-washy.”
And he added: “I would be happy to give our Prime Minister a briefing on a man to whom morality mattered above all things, a genius who has influenced the human race for good almost more than can be contemplated.
“To Shakespeare, every act had moral consequences. Any idea otherwise would have been an outrage. He devised a new form of drama — Christian tragedy, in which the character gains deep self-knowledge which leads him to ultimate redemption and, through sacrifice, a cleansing of his wider society.
“He also deals with the issue of whether morality is ‘an ever-fixed mark’, or whether it constitutes a situational ethic. He is undoubtedly on the side of the former.
“Like old Hamlet’s ghost, he knows there is a world of judgement beyond this one. His works are permeated with the notion that it is always wrong to do a bad act intentionally, no matter what the expected outcome may be.”
Stratford, where Nick grew up and where Hidden Shakespeare was launched in 2012, will be in jamboree mood at the weekend with a host of pageantry, birthday procession and performance events to celebrate the world famous poet and playwright.
“Edwina and I are deeply privileged to be invited each year to the traditional Shakespeare Birthday Luncheon, held in a marquee in the Theatre Gardens, especially this year when we celebrate the 450th anniversary of the birth of this universal literary genius,” said Nick.
There are always distinguished speakers proposing the toasts: To the guests — this year by Dame Joan Bakewell; To the World-wide reputation of William Shakespeare — by a member of the Diplomatic Corps to the Court of St James; To the Theatre — by Sir Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre; To the Immortal Memory – by the novelist Hilary Mantel.
“The luncheon has been going since 1824. It was founded in that year by the Shakespeare Club of Stratford-upon-Avon, the oldest Shakespeare society in the world.
“And I’ve been asked to speak to this distinguished gathering later this year. The topic will be ‘The scurvy politician’. To the Elizabethans the word meant ‘a conniving trickster and rogue’ — has it changed that much? Please debate.
“But meanwhile please join me in raising a glass to this greatest of all writers, to whom, if this nation had done nothing else on the Day of Judgement, we could proudly say, ‘We gave him birth,’
“I give you the toast – He was not for an Age, but for all time!”
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