New Historicism Texts - Renaissance Self-Fashioning from More to Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt (1980)

Here's the book that kick-started the New Historicist craze by talking about how cultural specifics shape the way writers live, think, and write. If there's anywhere to start to learn more about New Historicism, it’s here.

According to Greenblatt, how did English Renaissance writers such as Thomas Wyatt, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare "self-fashion," and how is this process of self-fashioning reflected in their work?

Why, according to Greenblatt, is it so important to take the socio-historical context of Renaissance literature into account when studying this literature?