Painterly rolled theatre paper tied with green ribbon beside a quill on muted green.

Original artwork, not a still

Mansfield Park · 1814

Jane Austen

But Shakespeare one gets acquainted with without knowing how. It is a part of an Englishman's constitution. His thoughts and beauties are so spread abroad that one touches them everywhere; one is intimate with him by instinct.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Shakespeare is described as so deeply woven into English culture that familiarity with him can grow without deliberate study. His language and ideas seem to reach people from all directions.

Context reviewed

Share this quote