Widely regarded as the greatest play right in the English language William Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets. With works such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Mid Summer's Night Dream and The Taming of the Shrew his work has made a lasting impression on western culture. For the last four hundred years Shakespeare's plays have been the most preformed and studied of any playwright. From the words he invented, to the grammar he developed and phrases that linger in our vernacular the "Bard of Avon" has influenced much of the development of the English language.