We enjoyed an ‘in-house’ situation this week when our Member John Gartlan told us: You Know More About Shakespeare Than You Think. As a boy, John’s teacher Joe O’Dwyer generated a great interest in him for Shakespeare, and John noted that if Shakespeare’s father hadn’t moved to Stratford-upon-Avon at an early age, the Bard of Avon might well have been the Bard of Snitterfield! Shakespeare introduced dozens of words into the English language (e.g. lonely; fragrant; and brittle) as well as many expressions such as ‘tower of strength’; ‘one fell swoop’; and ‘milk of human kindness’. Many of the figures of speech that William brought into the language were oxymorons i.e. phrases containing contradictory words with opposing meanings such as ‘sweet sorrow’, and there were many paradoxes as well – such as ‘I must be cruel only to be kind’, a quote from Hamlet. Then there is the important observation that ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ (Romeo and Juliet), indicating that a name is just a label which distinguishes one thing from another. On the subject of women, Shakespeare portrayed them as strong rather than inferior, and therefore he could not be accused of being sexist. They played central roles in William’s writings and musings, such as Rosalind declaring in As You Like It: “Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak”.