Scholars differ on the exact meaning of Greene's words, but most agree that Greene was accusing Shakespeare of reaching above his rank in trying to match such university-educated writers as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, and Greene himself (the so-called "University Wits"). The italicised phrase parodying the line "Oh, tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide" from Shakespeare's "Henry VI, Part 3", along with the pun "Shake-scene", clearly identify Shakespeare as Greene's target. As used here, "Johannes Factotum" ("Jack of all trades") refers to a second-rate tinkerer with the work of others, rather than the more common "universal genius".