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2: Poetry, Prophecy and the Island - ‘This England’, from Shakespeare's Richard II

How has Shakespeare's famous 'This England' speech from Richard II, presenting England as an idealised island nation, set apart from the world, shaped English identity?

Catherine Clarke reads her new and original history of England - told through poetry.

Through five poems across a week, Clarke takes us onto battlefields, inside royal courts, below stairs of great houses and onto cricket pitches, with vivid voices, and surprising stories. In a portal to the past, she takes us inside the words and moments these poems capture, with new perspectives on how England has dreamed itself into existence - and who gets to tell its story.

Today: Clarke looks at the ways in which Shakespeare's endlessly anthologised 'This England' speech from Richard II has shaped English identity.

Writer and reader: Catherine is a Professor at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and Director of the Victoria County History of England.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett

Release date:

14 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Tuesday 11:45
  • Wednesday 00:30