Hard pressed, he took to making up other heroes, other tragic tales. While his body fulfilled its bodily destiny in the taverns and brothels of London, the soul inside it belonged to Caesar who paid no heed to the oracle’s warnings and Juliet who hated skylarks and Macbeth in conversation, on the heath, with witches who were also the Fates.

No one was as many men as this man: like the Egyptian Proteus, he used up the forms of all creatures. Every now and then he would tuck a confession into some hidden corner of his work, certain that no one would spot it. Richard states that he plays many roles in one, and Iago makes the odd claim: “I am not what I am.” The fundamental identity of existing, dreaming, and acting inspired him to write famous lines.