For many Englishman there can never be any discussion as to who is the world"s greatest poet and greatest dramatist. Only one name can possibly suggests itself to him: that of William Shakespeare. Every Englishman has some knowledge, however slight, of the works of our greatest writer. All of us use words, phrases and quotations from 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, rather like the old lady who was taken to see a performance of HAMLET and complained that it was full of well-known proverbs and quotations.
Shakespeare, more perhaps than any other writers, made full use of the great resource 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 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 (it is not, of course, recommended to beginners), even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare"s day. It is worthwhile to study the various ways in which Shakespeare used English because ______.