Female Identity in Renaissance Literature

Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558 and
ruled until her death in 1603, presiding over the Golden Age of England. The appearance of a female
ruler in a patriarchal society precipitated a
re-imagining of female rule, both in political theory
and on the stage. Investigating a range of
Renaissance drama and poetry as well as the writings
of the queen herself, this book examines the impact
of Queen Elizabeth I upon representations of Women in
Power in Early Modern Literature. Chapter One is a
study of the hitherto neglected poetry of Queen
Elizabeth I. The themes of female desire, masculine
identity and political power are examined in
Christopher Marlowe s Dido, Queen of Carthage (1594)
and John Webster s The Duchess of Malfi (1613) in
Chapter Two.The book concludes with an investigation
into literary representations of cross-dressing in
William Shakespeare, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser
in Chapter Three. This study will benefit a reader
interested generally in Renaissance literature and in
issues of gender, female identity and politics more
specifically.

Autorentext
Grace Windsor is currently undertaking doctoral research on the representation of the bodies of Saints, Lepers and Prostitutes in late Medieval Literature at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The project is supervised by Dr.Catherine La Farge and is funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Klappentext
Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558 and ruled until her death in 1603, presiding over the 'Golden Age' of England. The appearance of a female ruler in a patriarchal society precipitated a re-imagining of female rule, both in political theory and on the stage. Investigating a range of Renaissance drama and poetry as well as the writings of the queen herself, this book examines the impact of Queen Elizabeth I upon representations of Women in Power in Early Modern Literature. Chapter One is a study of the hitherto neglected poetry of Queen Elizabeth I. The themes of female desire, masculine identity and political power are examined in Christopher Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage (1594) and John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi (1613) in Chapter Two.The book concludes with an investigation into literary representations of cross-dressing in William Shakespeare, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser in Chapter Three. This study will benefit a reader interested generally in Renaissance literature and in issues of gender, female identity and politics more specifically.