Author Series 25 - Robert Greene

Author Series 25

Robert Greene

* 1558 – 1592

* He was one of the university wits. He was very famous for his pamphlets as

- Greenes (1592)

- Groats – Worth of Wit (1952)

- Bought with a Million of Repentance (1952)

* All these pamphlets were believed to be an attack on Shakespeare.

* Green’s literary career began with the publication of Mamillia: A Mirror or Looking-glass for the Ladies of England (1583), dedicated to Lord Darcy of the North.

* Green’s Romances were written in a highly wrought style which reached its highest level in Pandosto (1588) and Menaphon (1589). 

* Menaphon is dedicated to Lady Hales, wife of the late deceased Sir James

Hales.

*One song from Menaphon, “weep not my wanton, smile upon my knee” (A mother’s lullaby to her baby son) enjoyed immense success and now probably his best known work.

* In addition to his prose works, he also wrote several plays but none of them were published in his lifetime.

*It includes

- The Scottish History of James IV

- Alphonsus

- Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay

- Orlando Furioso

* On attacking Shakespeare he used a term “Shake – scene” to refer the actor.

* Green attacked Shakespeare as an “Upstart Crow” because at his end time Shakespeare had been an upstart actor contributing on Henry VI and King John. “An upstart crow beautified with our feathers” is a title quote from Groats-Worth of Wit.

* Greene wrote “A looking Glass for London and England” in collaboration with Thomas Lodge.

* The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon was also written by Greene in 1590.

*Greene is most familiar to Shakespeare for his pamphlet “Groats Worth of Wit” which alludes to a line “O tigers heart wrapped in a women’s hide” found in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part III (1623).

Verse by Greene

1. A Maiden’s Dream (1591): It is dedicated to Lady Elizabeth Hatton, wife to Sir William Hatton

Other Works by Greene

1. Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1590): Originally entitled “The Honorable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, a comedy”

Sequel: - “John of Bordeaux or The Second Part of Friar Bacon”.

2. The History of Orlando Furioso (1590)

3. A Looking Glass for London and England (with Thomas Lodge ; 1590)

4. The Scottish History of James the Fourth (1590)

5. The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon (1590)

6. Groats – Worth of Witte: It was printed for Wright by John Danter and John Wolfe.

7. Pandosto: It is dedicated to George Clifford. (1588)

8. Euphues: His Censure to Philautus (1587): Dedicated to Robert Devereux.