Robert Greene

Robert Greene – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Learn about Robert Greene (1558–1592), one of the Elizabethan era’s most colorful writers and dramatists—his literary works, his rivalry with Shakespeare, his pamphlets and plays, and his legacy in early modern English literature.

Introduction

Robert Greene (c. July 1558 – September 3, 1592) was an English author, playwright, pamphleteer, and popular writer of the late 16th century.

Although he is not as widely known today as some of his contemporaries, Greene played a pivotal role in the development of Elizabethan prose, theatrical comedy, and the culture of literary rivalry. He is perhaps best remembered now for a posthumous pamphlet in which he attacked a young William Shakespeare as an “upstart crow.”

In what follows, we will explore his early life, his literary career and themes, his relationships and controversies, notable works, quotations, and his enduring influence.

Early Life and Education

Robert Greene was born in Norwich, England, in July 1558 (baptized July 11, 1558)

He matriculated as a sizar at St John’s College, Cambridge in November 1575. Clare Hall, Cambridge (in 1583)

Greene traveled on the Continent (France, Italy, Germany) during his youth, as was common among younger sons of educated class, and claimed to have had many adventures and dissipation during those years.

Sometime in the mid-1580s (around 1585), he married a woman (often named “Dorothy” or “Doll”) from Lincolnshire or Norfolk, but later deserted her and left her (and their child) behind as he moved to London to pursue writing.

From those early years onward, Greene’s life was marked by alternating bursts of literary productivity and escalating personal difficulties—financial debt, drunkenness, dissolute living, and involvement with London’s more bohemian social circles.

Literary Career & Themes

Versatility and Popularism

Unlike many authors who specialized in one genre, Greene wrote prolifically across several forms: prose romances, pamphlets, essays, poems, fiction, and drama. 35 works.

Because writing was his livelihood, Greene often adopted styles that appealed to popular taste—romantic plots, sensational tales, criminal or underworld themes, love stories with moral overtones, and pamphlets exposing the vices of contemporary life.

Drama & Theatrical Works

Though drama was not his primary focus, Greene made important contributions to Elizabethan theatre. At least five plays survive in part or by record:

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

2. The Honourable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (c. 1591)

3. The Scottish History of James the Fourth, Slain at Flodden (c. 1590)

4. A Looking Glass for London and England (co-written with Thomas Lodge) (c. 1589–1590)

5. Orlando Furioso (a dramatic adaptation/parody)

Greene’s play Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay is often considered his strongest dramatic achievement, combining romance, magic, and moral elements.

His dramatic works often mix fantastical or supernatural elements (fairies, enchantment) with moral lessons and comic relief, foreshadowing some of the devices later used by Shakespeare and others.

Pamphlets, Moral Writing & “Groats-worth of Wit”

In his later years (especially circa 1590 onward), Greene turned to more didactic and confession-style works. One of the most famous is Greenes, Groats-worth of Witte, bought with a Million of Repentance (published 1592, after his death).

This pamphlet is partly an allegory, partly autobiographical, and is notorious for containing what is commonly regarded as the first printed allusion to William Shakespeare as a dramatist—Greene refers to “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers … the only Shake-scene in a country.”

In the tract, Greene warns other playwrights, denounces unscrupulous dramatists and actors, and confesses his own moral failings. Some scholars suggest parts of it were edited or even written by others posthumously.

Greene also wrote pamphlets exposing everyday crime, cony-catching (fraudulent trickery), and moral decay in London (e.g., A Notable Discovery of Cosenage (1591) and A Disputation Between a He-Conycatcher & a She-Conycatcher (1592)).

Personality, Conflicts & Controversies

Greene’s reputation among contemporaries and later scholars is colored by his personal life, excesses, and public feuds.

• He lived extravagantly, often in debt, associating with London’s bohemian world (actors, gamblers, con artists).

• He is said to have abandoned his wife and child, claiming he could not reform his “wilful wickedness.”

• As his fortunes declined, Greene attacked other writers in pamphlet form—most famously Shakespeare (as above), but also Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, and others in the literary community.

• Some critics charge Greene with hypocrisy: he issued moralistic pamphlets while living a life of excess.

• The authenticity of Groats-Worth of Wit and other late works has been contested—some suggest parts were modified or compiled by Henry Chettle or other printers after Greene’s death.

Yet despite his self-confessed vices, Greene also expressed serious striving for repentance and reform in his later writings, making him a complex figure of both moral collapse and moral yearning.

Death & Final Days

In August 1592, Greene reportedly fell ill after a banquet featuring pickled herring and Rhenish wine—an overindulgent feast that precipitated his decline.

Abandoned by many friends, he died in poverty on September 3, 1592, in London (some sources say at a shoemaker’s house).

In the final days he is said to have written a note to his estranged wife asking that debts be paid to those who cared for him, expressing sorrow, and acknowledging dependence.

After his death, printers quickly gathered his papers and published several posthumous pamphlets (such as Greene’s Vision and The Repentance of Robert Greene) meant to cement his reputation as a repentant sinner.

Notable Works

Here are some of Greene’s significant works across genres: