Holding out for the hero — how some have greatness thrust upon them

IT WAS Shakespeare’s Malvolio — a holding player with secret ambitions to be what Italian soccer calls a “fantastista” — who delivered the most enduring definition of greatness.

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

If the Bard had been alive today, and conscious of the fact that a new series of Britain’s Got Talent (sic) is almost upon us, he may have been tempted to replace that word “great” with “celebrity”. To give Twelfth Night a more contemporary feel.