Changing The Subject: Mary Wroth and Figurations of Gender in Early Modern England

by Naomi Miller

Overview

The subject of the present book is not singular, but multiple: figurations of gender in early modern England, as viewed in relation to the works of a particular, indeed quite singular, writer: Lady Mary Wroth (c. 1587-1653).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813185163
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	10/21/2021
Series:	Studies in the English Renaissance
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Naomi Miller, professor of English and the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College, is the author of numerous books, including Gender and Constructions of Childhood in the Early Modern World.

Editorial Reviews

Miller (English, U. of Arizona) uses critical and theoretical perspectives including French feminism, new historicism, and cultural materialism to examine the work of an early modern woman writer (1587- 1653) who wrote the first sonnet sequence in English by a woman and the first published work of fiction by an Englishwoman. She examines constructions of gender in Wroth's time, and looks at the strategies devised by women writers of the period to establish voices. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Miller's extensive research proves useful for those interested specifically in Wroth, or in the Sidney family more generally, be making use of family letters and related historical artifacts.... Miller's reading of texts is very often clever and both historically and psychologically insightful.

Sixteenth-Century Journal

A step in the positive direction of providing a nuanced perspective by which to evaluate a woman's literary output, without losing sight of gender as a basis from critical analysis and without giving in to the seductiveness of essentialist criticism.

Seventeenth-Century News

Significant not only for its superb analysis of Wroth's texts but also because it offers a model of feminist reading practice that will undoubtedly prove highly influential.

Year's Work in English Studies

(Miller's) analyses are thoughtful, even illuminating, and her book will interest scholars who care about gender and early modern subjectivity, whether in Philip Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Clifford, Lanyer, Cary, or Wroth.

Shakespeare Quarterly

A subtle and absorbing study of the whole range of Wroth's literary career.

Reviews in English Studies

"A subtle and absorbing study of the whole range of Wroth's literary career." — Reviews in English Studies

"A step in the positive direction of providing a nuanced perspective by which to evaluate a woman's literary output, without losing sight of gender as a basis from critical analysis and without giving in to the seductiveness of essentialist criticism." — Seventeenth-Century News

"(Miller's) analyses are thoughtful, even illuminating, and her book will interest scholars who care about gender and early modern subjectivity, whether in Philip Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Clifford, Lanyer, Cary, or Wroth." — Shakespeare Quarterly

"Miller's extensive research proves useful for those interested specifically in Wroth, or in the Sidney family more generally, be making use of family letters and related historical artifacts.... Miller's reading of texts is very often clever and both historically and psychologically insightful." — Sixteenth-Century Journal

"Significant not only for its superb analysis of Wroth's texts but also because it offers a model of feminist reading practice that will undoubtedly prove highly influential." — Year's Work in English Studies

From the Publisher