Robert Greene (dramatist)

Robert Greene (dramatist)

Robert Greene (11 July 1558 – 3 September 1592) was an English author and well-known personality. He was born in Norwich, England, and attended Cambridge University, receiving a BA in 1580, and a MA in 1583 before moving to London, where he became perhaps the first professional author in England, publishing autobiography, plays, romances, and in other genres while capitalizing on a scandalous reputation.

Life

Greene was born in Norwich in 1558; however biographers disagree as to whether Greene was the son of a humble saddler, or a more prosperous innkeeper with land-owning relatives. He took his B.A. in 1580 and his M.A. in 1583 at Cambridge, and became an M.A. of Oxford in 1588. Greene claimed to have married a well-off woman named Doll, and to have later abandoned her, after spending a considerable sum of her money. L. H. Newcomb, ‘Greene, Robert (bap. 1558, d. 1592)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004]

In London, Greene became a principal member of the loose association known as the University Wits, and managed to support himself through his own writing. He lived as a notorious intellectual and rascal, cultivating this reputation himself in pamphlets describing his adventures amid the seamier characters of Elizabethan England, and through a memorable appearance, with fashionable clothing and his pointy red beard.

He died on 3 September 1592, from what Nashe called a "banquet of Rhenish wine and pickled herring," perhaps having written on his death bed the famous "Groatsworth of Wit Bought with a Million of Repentance" and having dispatched a letter to his wife asking her to forgive him and to settle his debts.

Writing

By 1583 Greene had begun his literary career with the publication of a long romance, Mamillia, licensed in 1580. He continued to produce romances written in a highly wrought style, reaching his highest level in Pandosto (1588) and Menaphon (1589). Short poems and songs incorporated in some of the romances gave him high rank as a lyrical poet also. By rapid production of such works Greene became one of the first authors in England to support himself with his pen.

Greene wrote prolifically, struggling to support himself (and his recreational habits) in an age when professional authorship was virtually unknown. In his notorious "Coney-Catching" pamphlets, Greene fashioned himself into a well-known public figure, by telling colorful inside stories of rakes and rascals duping solid citizens out of their hard-earned money. These stories are always told from the perspective of a repentant former rascal, incorporating many facts of his own life thinly veiled as fiction. He pictures his early riotous living, his marriage and desertion of his wife and child for the sister of a notorious character of the London underworld, his dealings with players, and his success in the production of plays for them.

Greene wrote in a variety of genres. In addition to prose romances, Greene composed numerous moral dialogs, and even some scientific writings on the properties of stones and other matters.

Greene's plays include "The Scottish History of James IV", "Alphonsus", and his greatest popular success, "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay" (c. 1589), as well as "Orlando Furioso", based on Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem. He may also have had a hand in numerous other plays, and may have written a second part to "Friar Bacon", (which may survive as "John of Bordeaux").

In addition to his acknowledged plays, Greene has been proposed as the author of a range of other dramas, including "The Troublesome Reign of King John," "George a Greene, Fair Em, A Knack to Know a Knave, Locrine, Selimus," and "Edward III," among others — even Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus." [Logan and Smith, pp. 81-5.]

Greene and Shakespeare

He is most familiar to Shakespeare scholars for his pamphlet "Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit" (full title: "Greene's Groats-worth of Wit bought with a Million of Repentance"), which most scholars agree contains the earliest known mention of Shakespeare as a member of the London dramatic community. In it, Greene disparages Shakespeare, for being an actor who has the temerity to write plays, and for committing plagiarism. The passage quotes a line which is purportedly from Shakespeare's play "Henry VI, part 3", but scholars are not agreed on exactly what is meant by this cryptic allusion:

:"...for there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey".

Though anti-Stratfordians argue that the early date of Greene's remark precludes a reference to Shakespeare (who in 1592 had no published works to his name), most scholars feel that Greene's comment refers to Shakespeare, who would in this period be an "upstart" new to the scene as an actor and contributor to plays such as Henry VI, Parts 1-3 and King John, which were most likely written and produced (though not published) before Greene's death.

In any case, it should be noted that all or part of the "Groats-Worth" may have in fact been written shortly after Greene's death by one of his fellow writers (the pamphlet's printer, Henry Chettle, is one candidate) hoping to capitalize on it with a lurid tale of death-bed repentance.

Greene's colorful and irresponsible character have led some, for example Stephen Greenblatt, to speculate that Greene may have served as the model for Shakespeare's Falstaff.

Principal Works

Plays:
*"Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay" (published 1594)
*"The History of Orlando Furioso" (1594)
*"A Looking Glass for London and England" (1594)
*"The Scottish History of James the Fourth" (1598)
*"The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon" (1599)
*"A Pleasant Conceited Comedy of George a Green" (1599)

Other Works:
*"Mamillia" (1583)
*"The Myrrour of Modestie" (1584)
*"The History of Arhasto, King of Denmarke" (1584)
*"Morando, the Tritameron of Love" (1584)
*"Planetomachia" (1585)
*"Penelope’s Web" (1587)
*"Pandosto" (1588)
*"Alcida" (1588)
*"Menaphon" (1589)
*"Greenes Never Too Late" (1590)
*"A Noteable Discovery of Coosnage" (1591)
*"Greene’s Farewell to Folly" (1591)
*"A Groatsworth of Wit Bought with a Million of Repentance" (1592)
*"A Disputation Between a Hee Conny-Catcher and a Shee Conny-Catcher" (1592)

Notes and References

*Baskervill, Charles Read, ed. "Elizabethan and Stuart Plays." New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1934.
*Crupi, Charles. "Robert Greene" (1986) ISBN-10: 0805769056
*Dickenson, Thomas H. "Introduction" from "The Complete Plays of Robert Greene" (New Mermaid Edition, 1907)
*Greenblatt, Stephen. "Will in the World" (2005)
*Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. "The Predecessors of Shakespeare: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama." Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1973.

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=vB4JAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage The Dramatic Works of Robert Greene (1831), vol. 1] Dyce, ed., at Google Books.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=xx4JAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover The Dramatic Works of Robert Greene (1831), vol. 2] Dyce, ed., at Google Books.
* [http://www.archive.org/details/greeneplays01colluoft The Plays and Poems of Robert Greene (1905) vol. 1] Churton Collins ed., at the Internet Archives.
* [http://www.archive.org/details/greeneplays02colluoft The Plays and Poems of Robert Greene (1905) vol. 2] Churton Collins ed., at the Internet Archives.
* [http://www.archive.org/details/honorablehistori00greeuoft "The Honorable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay"] 1594 text facsimile at the Internet Archives.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=tV4LAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover "The History of Orlando Furioso"] Malone Society Reprint, 1907, at Google Books.
* [http://elizabethandrama.tripod.com/Alphonsus.htm "The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon"] at Elizabethan Drama.
* [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Erbear/greene1.html "Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit"] e-text at Renascence Editions.
* [http://www.elizabethanauthors.com/pandosto1.htm "Pandosto" online.]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • GREENE, Robert — (1558 1592) A pamphleteer and dramatist, Robert Greene was a central figure in the En­glish literary community of the late sixteenth century. Greene, who was born in Norwich, entered St. John s College, Cambridge, in 1575 as a sizar, or poor… …   Renaissance and Reformation 1500-1620: A Biographical Dictionary

  • Greene — [grēn] 1. Graham 1904 91; Eng. writer, esp. of novels 2. Nathanael 1742 86; Am. general in the Revolutionary War 3. Robert 1558? 92; Eng. poet, dramatist, & pamphleteer …   English World dictionary

  • Greene — /green/, n. 1. Graham, 1904 91, English novelist and journalist. 2. Nathanael, 1742 86, American Revolutionary general. 3. Robert, 1558 92, English dramatist and poet. * * * (as used in expressions) Balch Emily Greene Greene Charles Sumner and… …   Universalium

  • Greene — noun English novelist and Catholic (1904 1991) • Syn: ↑Graham Greene, ↑Henry Graham Greene • Instance Hypernyms: ↑writer, ↑author * * * /green/, n. 1. Graham, 1904 91, English novelist and …   Useful english dictionary

  • Greene, Robert — (1560? 1592)    Poet, dramatist, and pamphleteer, was b. at Norwich, and studied at Camb., where he grad. A.B. He was also incorporated at Oxf. in 1588. After travelling in Spain and Italy, he returned to Camb. and took A.M. Settling in London he …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Greene — I. biographical name Graham 1904 1991 British novelist II. biographical name Nathanael 1742 1786 American general in Revolution III. biographical name Robert 1558? 1592 English poet & dramatist …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington — The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington [Anthony Munday, The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington , John C. Meagher, ed., Malone Society, Oxford University Press, 1965.] and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington [Anthony Munday, The Death of… …   Wikipedia

  • Грин, Роберт (драматург) — В Википедии есть статьи о других людях с такой фамилией, см. Грин. Роберт Грин (англ. Robert Greene, ок. 1558 1592) английский драматург, поэт и памфлетист, один из предшественников Шекспира. Биографические данные о нём крайне скудны.… …   Википедия

  • List of playwrights by nationality and year of birth — Dramatists listed in chronological order by country and language: See also : List of playwrights; List of early modern women playwrights; Lists of writers =Assyria= See also : List of Assyrian writers *(born 1952) Rosie Malek Yonan [Assyria… …   Wikipedia

  • English literature — Introduction       the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”