For any Englishman, there can never be any discussion as to who is the world’s greatest dramatist (剧作家).Only one name can possibly suggest itself to him: that of William Shakespeare.Every Englishman has some knowledge, however slight, of the work 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 the English-speaking people.Most of the time we are probably unaware of the source of the words we used, 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.