Ronald Levao

Ronald Levao is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University, specializing in Early Modern Literature, Literature and Intellectual History, and Shakespeare studies. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught courses on Metaphysical Poetry, Milton, Renaissance Shakespeare, and graduate seminars on Doubled Selves in Shakespeare and Renaissance Sidney and Marvell.

His research focuses on early modern literature’s intersections with philosophy, film, and myth, including studies on Shakespeare’s use of ghosts, Romanticism, and the cultural legacy of Frankenstein. His book Renaissance Minds and Their Fictions (1985) explores the intellectual legacies of Cusanus, Sidney, and Shakespeare, while his co-edited Henry IV, Parts I & II (2006) contextualizes Shakespeare’s plays within their cultural milieu.

Levaeo has received notable awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (1988–89) and multiple teaching honors. His publications span journal articles, encyclopedia entries, and edited volumes, reflecting a commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and literary pedagogy.