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.