Paul Franssen, on Burgess's use of Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" of the Sonnets in Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare's Love Life, in "The Bard, the Bible and the Desert Island" in ‪The Author as Character : Representing Historical Writers in Western Literature‬ (1999) edited by Paul Franssen and A. J. Hoenselaars, p. 115.

Ultimately, Anthony Burgess's emphasis on the multiplicity of meanings latent in the text of Shakespeare's life foregrounds his own appropriation of Shakespeare … Clearly this is not an inconsistency on Burgess's part but a deliberate pointer at the inevitability of appropriating any given text, particularly that most irresistible one of Shakespeare's life.

— Paul Franssen

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Ultimately, Anthony Burgess's emphasis on the multiplicity of meanings latent in the text of Shakespeare's life foregrounds his own appropriation of Shakespeare … Clearly this is not an inconsistency on Burgess's part but a deliberate pointer at the inevitability of appropriating any given text, particularly that most irresistible one of Shakespeare's life." in the context of "Paul Franssen, on Burgess's use of Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" of the Sonnets in Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare's Love Life, in "The Bard, the Bible and the Desert Island" in ‪The Author as Character : Representing Historical Writers in Western Literature‬ (1999) edited by Paul Franssen and A. J. Hoenselaars, p. 115." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "William Shakespeare" (Quotes about Shakespeare: Alphabetised by author) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
William Shakespeare

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.