During the Brexit campaign, both those who opted for Britain leaving the EU and those who wanted to remain in the structures of the Union referred to William Shakespeare to support the rightness of their preference. The question of how Shakespeare would have voted was raised by numerous journalists, writers and politicians who either tried to present Shakespeare as a national bard promoting British isolationism or a staunch adherent of England being an integral part of the European continent. The paper scrutinizes some aspects of Shakespeare’s plays which indicate the writer’s attitude towards the relations between England and Europe.
The article corresponds to the 400th death annniversary of two famous European writers – Cervantes and Shakespeare – celebrated all around the world. The author tells about their lifes and takes into consideration the possiblility of their meeting together in Vailladolid. Besides, the author emphasizes on the qualities that are in common for Shakespeare’s and Cervantes’ works – among others the universality (their readers were both educated as well as simple), the ability to create symbolic figures and the application of colloquial language.
The article talks about three visits paid in 1609, 1611 and 1612 by prince Janusz Radziwiłł and Daniel Naborowski – one of the most eminent poets of the Polish Baroque – at the court of king James I in London. These visits were related to the wedding plans – Władysław IV Vasa, son of king Sigismund III Vasa, was supposed to marry English princess Elizabeth Stuart. In her honour Naborowski wrote a famous poem entitled "Na oczy królewny angielskiej" ("For English Princess’ Eyes"). During the second visit at the English court, 1st November 1611, Radziwiłł and Naborowski were probably watching the staging of Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" in the Banqueting House in the Palace of Whitehall. The author of the article points out a possible source of Shakespeare’s play which was a text written by a Polish humanist Marcin Kromer, widely known in Europe of those times thanks to its latin translation. Kromer’s text described a story of young prince Sigismund (the future king Sigismund III Vasa) who was born on an island in MalDrm Lake where Eric XIV of Sweden imprisoned his parents: Eric’s brother John III of Sweden and his wife Catherine Jagiellon. A Polish poet Daniel Naborowski might have seen and possibly met William Shakespeare.
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