8-1RobertGreene

WHO WAS ROBERT GREENE AND WHAT DID HE SAY ABOUT SHAKESPEARE’S WRITINGS?

// Answer Prepared by: Heidi A //

Born 1560 and died 1592, Robert Greene led a very short life, but that was normal in Elizabethan England. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “English dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was born at Norwich about 1560. The identity of his father has been disputed, but there is every reason to believe that he belonged to the tradesmen's class and had small means.” That basically means that they don’t know who his father is, but they can make a really good guess on what class his father belonged to. It also states that, “He entered St John's College as a Sizar in 1575 and took his B.A. thence in 1579, proceeding M.A. in 1583 from Clare Hall. His life at the university was, according to his own account, spent ‘among wags as lewd as himself, with whom he consumed the flower of his youth.’ In 1588 he was incorporated at Oxford.” Basically, he was enrolled in Oxford in 1588. His most popular play was “//Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay//”. He was an aspiring writer from the beginning, and an obviously good student as well. By 1952, Shakespeare had been made himself known as an actor and writer. But the first certain mention of Shakespeare as a playwright came from Robert Greene’s, “__Greene's Groats-worth of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance”,__ says __Shakespeare; the World as Stage__, by Bill Bryson. In Greene’s book, Greene disparages Shakespeare, for being an actor who has the temerity to write plays, and for committing [|plagiarism]. This basically means that he thought that Shakespeare was a risk-taker to write his plays (for he thinks that he is only an actor, //not// an author) and that he copies others’ work and calls hit his own. Bryson also states that, “If the not-so-subtle reference to “Shake-scene” didn’t identify the target at once, the reference to a ‘Tiger’s heart wrapped in a Player’s hide’ almost certainly did, for it is a parody or a line in //Henry VI, Part 3//. It is clear from the context that Shakespeare had distinguished himself enough to awaken envy in a dying man but was still sufficiently fresh to be considered upstart.” This means that it might have not been apparent at first, but another line made it obvious that Greene was directing his insults towards Shakespeare. But __The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization__ by Alfred Bates, challenges Bryson by saying, “Greene's words imply that Shakespeare was not only acknowledged as a good actor, but that he was already distinguished by his dramatic success in revising and rewriting existing plays.” These are quite controversial to the other statement about Greene’s words. Another site, BBC, says that, “Even Shakespeare had his critics. One called Robert Greene described the young playwright as an ‘upstart young crow’ or ‘arrogant upstart’, accusing him of borrowing ideas from his seniors in the theatre world for his own plays.” That means that he was an arrogant amateur who was stealing ideas from older and classic plays. In __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__, Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, it states that there is little doubt that Greene was addressing Shakespeare in his attacks. It seems that Shakespeare was not only criticized by Robert Greene, but there is controversy about that criticism! Some say Greene was complimenting Shakespeare; others say he was insulting him! And others say that he may not have been even talking about Shakespeare. But it should be known that Greene was jealous of Shakespeare for his brilliancy and huge success.