Shakespeare's largest contribution, in my view, is his popularization of the language of the English language Bible, particularly in that he borrowed liberally from the first Bible printed particularly for study and scholarship, the Geneva Bible (the version that just predated the 1611 King James Bible -- the Bible eventually compiled for regular use for common people). Shakespeare's use of language, his imagery, metaphors, and HUGE vocabulary, when seen and heard in action on the stage, connected people to words and their possibilities. Shakespeare knew he would make that connection even easier when he used phrases already familiar to his audiences, phrases they would have heard in church or at home from the only book that would likely have been in a home at that time before the printing press and before literacy was at all commonplace.
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