Sir Walter Ralegh

Exposing the tensions and contradictions of Renaissance England, Stephen Greenblatt presents Sir Walter Ralegh as a symbol of his age—focusing on his lifelong attempt to fashion his own identity as a work of art. At moments of crisis, Ralegh was always acting out a role, and the interplay between life and art animated both his actions and his writing.Greenblatt approaches Ralegh’s execution, poetry, and paradoxical attempt to write his History of the World to explore the Renaissance man and his many roles. Moving from the grim Tower of London to the swamps of Guiana, from the aging Elizabeth’s court back to the Tower, Greenblatt follows Ralegh’s turbulent career from his 1592 disgrace to his 1603 conviction for treason. Blending historical, literary, and psychological insight, he brings vital dimension to a figure long shrouded in myth—one of the most compelling characters in his own recent Dark Renaissance.