I studied Shakespeare for my A levels (Othello was my favourite of all) and when I arrived for my first lecture in Eng Lit at University, the lecturer began with a list of stuff we had to 'read, learn and inwardly digest'.

He stood there and sternly demanded we familiarise ourselves with 'the entire works of Shakespeare, Chaucer, all the Romance poets, Robert Burns, the Brontes....' and on and on.

I already had a huge list of literature to study for my main subject (French), not to mention Soc Anth., Moral Phil., Sociology, Linguistics, Phonetics etc.

I was only seventeen, very tiny and thin, and staggered out of the University Bookshop with a huge pile of heavy books (the Library was excellent, but the Arts Faculty students had taken out most of the set books already) and tottering to the bus stop to my Halls of Residence. I wore a tatty duffel coat and a massive Edinburgh scarf which almost hid me from sight.

I wished Shakespeare had written rather fewer blooming plays!