Shakespeare When talking about the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist, only one name can possible suggest itself; that of William Shakespeare. Nearly every Englishman has some knowledge, however slight, of the work of this greatest writer. We use words, phrases and quotations form. Shakespeare's writings that have become part of the common property of English-speaking people. Most of the time we are probably unaware of the source of the words we use. For example, and old lady, after seeing a performance of Hamlet complained, 'It was full of well-known proverbs and quotations!' Shakespeare made full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English; Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand! There is probably no better way for a foreigner (or an Englishman) to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare used it. Such a study is well worth the effort, even thought some aspects of English and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare's day. It is a pity that we know so little about the life of the greatest English author. We only know that he was born in 1564 in Stratford on-Avon, and that then died there in 1616. He almost certainly attended the Grammar School in the town, but of this we cannot be sure. We know he was married there in 1582 and had three children. We know that he spent much of his life in London, writing his masterpieces. But this is almost all that we do know. However, what is important about Shakespeare's life is not its incidental details but its products, the plays and the poems. For many years scholars have been trying to add a few facts about Shakespeare's life to the small number we already posses and for an equally long time critics have been theorizing about the plays. Sometimes indeed, it seems that the poetry of Shakespeare will disappear beneath the great mass of comment that has been written upon it. Fortunately this is not likely to happen. Shakespeare's poetry and Shakespeare's characters (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet and all the others) have long delighted not just the English but lovers of literature everywhere, and will continue to do so after the scholars and commentators and all their works have been forgotten. How can we best describe the popularity of Shakespeare's works among the English speaking people?