About the Author:
Amy Greenstadt is Associate Professor of English at Portland State University, where she writes and teaches about the cultural history of gender, sexuality, and other forms of human identity and difference.
Review:
'Amy Greenstadt's intriguing book takes a close look at early modern literary authorship in light of shifting ideas concerning female will and the violation of rape. Through analysis of Sidney's The Old Arcadia, Shakespeare's Rape of Lucrece, Milton's Comus, and Cavendish's Assaulted and Pursued Chastity, Greenstadt traces the use of rape as a metaphor for authorial intention that is inevitably violated by public consumption. This carefully argued book brings to light dimensions of female subjectivity that echo provocatively in literature of the age.' Sharon Beehler, Montana State University, USA 'Greenstadt offers a fresh, persuasive model of intention, which resists the opposition of autonomy and erasure. Having killed off the author, we can recall that figure on more nuanced terms, and Greenstadt's book makes a powerful case for the value of that project.' Renaissance Quarterly '... insightful readings of a series of works spanning some seven decades in Early Modern English letters.' Parergon 'Rape and the Rise of the Author is rich and wide-ranging. The works studied span over seventy years and cover a variety of genres. ... [This book] offers a valuable contribution to authorship studies...' English Studies '... sensitive and thought-provoking...' Sharp News 'Greenstadt's analysis of texts and their literary and political environment is engaging, detailed, and intricate. She generally follows the existing critical consensus of law surrounding rape, abduction, and elopement - a particularly fraught and precarious area demanding significant engagement with both primary texts and historical context. Her intervention is a welcome challenge to established critical ideology, identifying the need for alternative approaches to the discussion of early modern literature and rape.' Modern Language Review 'Amy Greenstadt's study of how concepts of rape, authorial intention, and subjectivity intersected in early modern England contributes to the critical discussion of gendering the subject and acts of literary publication. ... Examining literary texts from ca. 1580 to 1656, Greenstadt demonstrates that authors increasingly used metaphors of sexual violence to represent the precarious independence of their own intellectual creations. ... this work will be of most interest to scholars working on theories of early modern literary authorship, subjectivity, and gender studies.' Sixteenth Century Journal 'Greenstadt moves adroitly between texts developed under radically different publication regimes and political backgrounds. The text is thoughtful and sophisticated, combining theoretical facility with complex readings of a wide range of primary materials.' Notes and Queries
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