The Imprint of Gender: Authorship and Publication in the English Renaissance

by Wendy Wall

What did it mean to be published at the end of the sixteenth century? While in polite circles gentlemen exchanged handwritten letters, published authors risked association with the low-born masses. Examining a wide range of published material including sonnets, pageants, prefaces, narrative poems, and title pages, Wendy Wall considers how the idea of authorship was shaped by the complex social controversies generated by publication during the English Renaissance.

Genres: Nonfiction

373 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

Reviews

[Chloe Heins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, let’s start this by saying if you know me, you know I’m not one to leisurely read literary theory in my spare time; however, I’ve never gotten this excited about reading research and theory over Renaissance literature, and I’ve actually smiled from ear to ear reading this book, desperately hunting for the next sweetly-worded sentence to highlight, soaking up each bit of knowledge I could get.

I originally borrowed this book from a professor for a research project on Aemelia Lanyer, but I fell in love with Wall’s accessible and thoughtful wording so much that it pushed me to get a copy of my own. Wall looks at the process of publishing (or not publishing, if you were elite enough) in the Renaissance period, and compares this dynamic between male and female authors in this time. Writing-for-money was a lowly act, and the “good and proper” authors passed their writings in inner-circles in manuscript form. Men (obviously) had greater access to these inner-circles, but those who had to write for a living could still publish and sell more easily than women. My favorite chapter in this book is “Dancing in a Net,” which explores how female authors, like Lanyer, had to bury their social commentary and artistic prowess under the guise of “appropriate” female topics such as religion or child-rearing. I could say so much more, but for the sake of not lengthening this review, I won’t go there.

I never thought I’d be entertained by studying the nuisances of Renaissance female authorship and publication, but Wendy Wall found a way to capture me. The content is there, without the dense, overly-complex language that often acts as a gatekeeper to accessing literary and scholarly writing. If you’re into thorough, captivating feminist theory on Renaissance lit, give this one a look!