Robinson has a Master of Arts in English. She is a writer and editor and a former teacher of English literature and creative writing. In the following essay, Robinson examines how Arden of Faversham portrays a world in chaos, both on the individual and societal levels.

The opening exchange of Arden of Faversham sets up the framework of values for the rest of the play. Franklin tells a melancholy Arden to cheer up because he has been granted the lands of the Abbey of Faversham. Franklin's remark implies that for men like Arden, happiness is contingent upon the acquisition of land. As becomes clear in the rest of the play, Arden's greed for land ruins the livelihoods and happiness of others, causing so much resentment as to provide one character, Greene, with a motive for murder.

The exchange comments on a process of change in land ownership...