8-4RobertGreene

WHO IS ROBERT GREENE AND WHAT IMPACT DID HE HAVE ON SHAKESPEARE’S CARRER? // Answer prepared by Nish K. // When I think of Robert Greene, two words pop into my head; writer and criticizer. According to the book __Shakespeare A to Z__ Robert Greene was the "Author of the earliest reference to Shakespeare," This simply means that Robert Greene was the first person to write a detailed review and criticize William Shakespeare and his work. The other word that pops into my head when I think of Greene is also true; writer. __Shakespeare A to Z__ states that "Greene was one of the university wits who revolutionized Elizabethan drama in the 1580's." Greene's work consisted of three types of writing; plays, novels, and essays. Greene wrote at least ten well known romantic comedies which include //Friar Bacon// and //Friar Bungay//. Greene also wrote romantic novels that appealed to the women of his time period. One of his most famous novels was //Pandosto//. The third type of Greene's writing was essays. Greene wrote countless amounts of them that actually provided minor ideas and plots for some of Shakespeare's writing. For example Shakespeare (who was young at the time) took the plot of one of Greene's essays and incorporated it in his play //The Winter's Tale.// So I guess you could say the first step of Shakespeare's success began with Robert Greene.

With every hero in this world, comes a villain who wants to destroy them. This is the case with Robert Greene and William Shakespeare. "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute //Johannes fac totum//, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country." is a critical attack on Shakespeare by Robert Greene according to www.bardweb.net. Basically Greene is saying that Shakespeare is untalented and his writing is a disgrace to English literature. This quote is from the famous review of Shakespeare by Robert Greene called //Greene's Groatsworth of Wit//. Though, nothing sprouts hatred more than jealousy. Historians believe that William Shakespeare's success made Greene jealous and led him to write false criticism just to desolate his career. I'd be jealous too if I found out that a fellow writer who is younger than me has more success than I ever did. Not only did Shakespeare act and write for the king and his men, but he also had the most successful company in London. Shakespeare had rapidly published plays and uprising stardom. Greene felt like he was being outshined by Shakespeare and had to do anything he could to fix that. He was overpowered in jealousy and anger, and that caused him to declare Shakespeare as a permanent foe.  Works Cited

Boyce, Charles. //Shakespeare A to Z//. New York, NY: Dell Publishing Group Inc., 1991. "Shakespeare Resource Center." //www.bardweb.net//. 18 Feb 2009. Webmaster. 16 Apr 2009

Shakespeare, William. //A Midsummer Night's Dream//. New. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1993. Print.