Writing, gender, and state in early modern England : identity formation and the female subject / Megan Matchinske.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Matchinske, Megan, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 26.

Cambridge studies in Renaissance literature and culture ; 26

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700--History and criticism.

English literature.

English literature--Women authors--History and criticism.

Women and literature--England--History--16th century.

Women and literature.

Women and literature--England--History--17th century.

Women--England--History--Renaissance, 1450-1600.

Women.

Literature and state--Great Britain--History.

Literature and state.

Identity (Psychology) in literature.

Gender identity in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 247 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Writing, Gender & State in Early Modern England

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The period from the Reformation to the English Civil War saw an evolving understanding of social identity in England. This book uses four illuminating case studies to chart a discursive shift from mid-sixteenth-century notions of an individually generated, spiritually motivated sense of identity, to Civil War perceptions of the self as inscribed by the state and inflected according to gender, a site of civil and sexual invigilation and control. Each centres on the work of an early modern woman writer in the act of self-definition and authorization, in relation to external powers such as the Church and the monarchy. Megan Matchinske's study illustrates the evolving relationships between public and private selves and the increasing role of gender in determining different identities for men and women. The conjunction of gender and statehood in Matchinske's analysis represents an original contribution to the study of early modern identity.

Contents:

1. Resistance, Reformation, and the remaining narratives

2. Framing recusant identity in Counter-Reformation England

3. Legislating morality in the marriage market

4. Gender formation in English apocalyptic writing

5. Connections, qualifications, and agendas.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 166-235) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-58274-9

0-511-00588-1