Rape and the Rise of the Author: Gendering Intention in Early Modern England

Amy Greenstadt

ISBN 10: 0754662748 / ISBN 13: 9780754662747

Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2009

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # B9780754662747

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rape and the Rise of the Author: Gendering Intention in Early Modern England
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0754662748
• ISBN 13: 9780754662747
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 426 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Contending that early modern fictional portrayals of sexual violence identify the position of the author with that of the chaste woman threatened with rape, Amy Greenstadt challenges the prevalent scholarly view that this period's concept of 'The Author' was inherently masculine. Instead, she argues, the analogy between rape and writing centrally informed ideas of literary intention that emerged during the English Renaissance. Analyzing works by Milton, Sidney, Shakespeare and Cavendish, Greenstadt shows how the figure of 'The Author' - and by extension ideas of the modern individual--derived from a paradigm of female virtue and vulnerability. This volume supplements the growing body of studies that address the relationship between early modern textual representation and notions of gender and sexuality; it also adds a new dimension in considering the wider origins of modern concepts of selfhood and individual rights.

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.