In doing research for my paper I came across this passage and thought it might be interesting to the rest of you as well:
"It has often been maintained, both in England and America, that in order to render faithfully Shakespeare's creations one must be of English stock, on th plea that the poet was himself an Englishman, and therefore could only bring forth personages endowed with English characteristics, which cannot be successfully grasped by any foreigners. This argument seems both narrow and disparaging to the genius of Shakespeare.
Many authors, either historians or poets, have perfectly understood, either by study and observation, or by intuition, sometimes better called 'inspiration,' the peculiarities of other nationalities or races. Why refuse this knowledge or intuition to Shakespeare?
We foreigners, born outside of the magic pale of the Anglo-Saxon race, place Shakespeare upon a much higher pedestal. We claim that, before being English, he was human, and that his creations are not bound either by local or ethnological limits, but belong to humanity in general."
-Helena Modjeska: Memories and Impressions, 1910