Product Description: Throughout the 1980s, scholars debated Alexander Pope’s attitude toward women by applying such critical methods as Marxist or deconstructionist theories to his texts. In this book, Claudia N. Thomas instead adopts reader-response theory in order to present what she regards as a more accurate analysis, mindful of the historical reception of Pope’s various works...read more

Allegories of Empire was first published in 1993.“Allegories of Empire re-constellates a metropolitan masterpiece, Forster’s A Passage to India, within colonial discourse studies. Sharpe, a materialist feminist, is scrupulous in her use of theory to articulate nationalism, historical race-gendering, and contemporary feminist critique.” -Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University“Jenny Sharpe has done a great service in opening up the virtually taboo subject of the rape of the white woman by the colored man, and, furthermore, in teaching us theory - making by locating this frenzy of fantasy and reality within a specific crisis of European colonialism in India. ... In showing how a ‘wild anthropology’ must continuously rework feminism in the face of racism, and vice versa, she shows how the margins of empire were and still are at its center.” -Michael Taussig, New York UniversityAllegories of Empire introduces race and colonialism to feminist theories of rape and sexual difference, deploying women’s writing to undo the appropriation of English (universal) womanhood for the perpetuation of Empire.Sharpe brings the historical memory of the 1857 Indian Mutiny to bear upon the theme of rape in British adn Anglo-Indian fiction. She argues that the idea of Indian men raping white women was not part of the colonial landscape prior to the revolt that was remembered as the savage attack of mutinous Indian soldiers on defenseless English women.By showing how contemporary theories of female agency are implicated in an imperial past, Sharpe argues that such models are inappropriate, not only for discussion of colonized women, but for European women as well. Ultimately, she insists that feminist theory must begin from difference and dislocation rather than from identity and correspondence if it is to get beyond the race-gender-class impasse.Jenny Sharpe received her Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Texas at Austin and is currently a professor of English at the University of California at Los Angeles. She has contributed articles to Modern Fiction Studies, Genders, and boundary 2.

Product Description: Aristocratic women flourished in the Victorian literary world, their combination of class privilege and gendered exclusion generating distinctively socialized modes of participation in cultural and political activity. Their writing offers an important trope through which to consider the nature of political, private and public spheres...read more

As She Likes It is the first attempt to tackle head on the enduring question of how to perform those unruly women at the centre of Shakespeare's comedies. Unique amongst both Shakespearian and feminist studies, As She Likes It asks how gender politics affects the production to the comedies, and how gender is represented, both in the text and on the stage. Penny Gay takes a fascinating look at the way Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Measure for Measure have been staged over the last half a century, when perceptions of gender roles have undergone massive changes. She also interrogates, rigorously but thoughtfully, the relationship between a male theatrical establishment and a burgeoning feminist approach to performance. As illuminating for practitioners as it will be enjoyable and useful for students, As She Likes It will be critical reading for anyone interested in women's experience of theatre.

Product Description: This volume contains the edited proceedings from the 1990 symposium of the same title, focusing on the interdisciplinary study of women in early modern England. After an introduction providing an overview of the current issues shaping Renaissance women's studies, the four parts of the book cover the challenge of making women visible and its political implications in academia; the construction of identity in the representation of women's deaths; an analysis of working-class women; and issues of pedagogy...read more

Product Description: -- Elaine Showalter

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An informal, jargon-free introduction to the fiction of 16 contemporary writers either brought up or now living in England, from Muriel Spark to Jeanette Winterson. It seeks to present a balanced view of women's writing since the 1950s and 1960s, those who attracted critical attention during the 1970s and 1980s, and those who have burst upon the literary scene more recently, including Afro-Caribbean and African women. The essays show how all of these writers treat British subjects and themes, sometimes from radically different perspectives, and how those who are daughters of immigrants see themselves as women writing on the margins of society. Abby Werlock's introduction explores the historical and aesthetic factors that have contributed to this genre, showing how even those writers who began in a traditional vein have created experimental work. The contributors provide complete bibliographies of each writer's works and selected bibliographies of criticism. (view table of contents)

Product Description: This volume of twelve original essays is the first comprehensive study of feminist issues in Restoration drama. The late seventeenth century marks a pivotal era in the history of feminism, when Renaissance assumptions about gender and patriarchy were being directly challenged...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Providing a feminist interpretation of the plays that has been written, this work is aimed at feminists. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: "What famous letters your own are . . . I never saw such traits of discernment, observation of character, knowledge of your own sex, and sly concealment of your knowledge of the foibles of ours," wrote the twenty-four-year-old Lord Byron to Lady Melbourne...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: "Alas! the love of women! it is known/ To be a lovely and fearful thing!" (Don Juan, st. 199) Traditionally seen as an archetypal masculine poet, better known for his relationships with women than for the sympathetic study of them, Lord Byron has not lent himself easily to a feminist critique...read more

Product Description: Why are the women Shakespeare created often so perplexing? Why do children fear witches in fairy tales? throughout literature these and other powerful and compelling images of women occur frequently: the enigmatic temptress, the supernatural goddess, and the earth mother...read more

Product Description: Sara Lodge offers a lively introduction to the critical history of one of the most widely-studied nineteenth-century novels, from the first reviews through to present day responses. The Guide also includes sections devoted to feminist, Marxist and postcolonial criticism of Jane Eyre, as well as analysis of recent developments...read more

Virgin martyrs make up one of the largest categories of medieval saints. To judge by their frequent appearances in art and literature, they also figure among the most venerated. The legends of virgin martyrs, retold in various ways through the centuries, illuminate trends in popular piety, values, and literary tastes. Chaste Passions contains eighteen English virgin martyr legends, each of a different saint and each translated in its entirety into colloquial, modern English prose. Faithful in tone and meaning to the originals, Karen Winstead's lively translations allow contemporary readers to appreciate why virgin martyr legends thrived for hundreds of years. Winstead presents the tales in chronological order, tracing the effects of the composition and tastes of the audience on the development of the genre. The virgin martyr, Winstead tells us, escapes the confining female stereotypes--demure maiden or disruptive shrew--prevalent in writings of the period. Because nearly all of the texts were written by men but addressed to women, they exhibit a fascinating interplay between male views of so-called women's literature and the demands of their intended audience. Familiarity with this widely read genre is essential to a full understanding of medieval culture, and Chaste Passions is an excellent introduction to these often racy, sometimes comic, tales (view table of contents)

Product Description: This is a feminist study of women, sex and gender in Chaucer's poetry. The author argues that these are Chaucer's major subjects and that he sees them as areas fraught with problems. The author considers the areas of role and stereotype, gender and genre, and power and subversion...read more

Five actresses from the Royal Shakespeare Company discuss the roles of Kate, Isabella, Lady Macbeth, Helena, Imogen, and Rosalind (view table of contents)