Early Modern Women in Conversation (Early Modern Literature in History)

In 16th and 17th century England conversation was an embodied act that held the capacity to negotiate, manipulate and transform social relationships. Early Modern Women in Conversation illuminates the extent to which gender shaped conversational interaction and demonstrates the significance of conversation as a rhetorical practice for women. To converse is, in its most fundamental sense, to engage with society. The potency of conversation as an early modern social networking tool is complicated, however, both by its gendered status in the period and by its conflation of verbal and physical interaction. Conversation was an embodied act that signified social intimacy, cohabitation, and even sexual intercourse. As such, conversation posed a particular challenge for women, whose virtuous reputation was contingent on sexual and verbal self-control. Early Modern Women in Conversation considers how five women writers from the prominent Sidney and Cavendish families negotiated the gendered interrelationship between conversation and the spatial boundaries delimiting conversational encounters to create opportunities for authoritative and socially transformative utterance within their texts. Conversation emerges in this book as a powerful rhetorical and creative practice that remaps women's relationship to space and language in early modern England To Converse Is, In Its Most Fundamental Sense, To Engage With Society. The Potency Of Conversation As An Early Modern Social Networking Tool Is Complicated, Both By Its Gendered Status In The Period And By Its Conflation Of Verbal And Physical Interaction. Conversation Was An Embodied Act That Signified Social Intimacy, Cohabitation, And Even Sexual Intercourse. As Such, Conversation Posed A Particular Challenge For Women, Whose Virtuous Reputation Was Contingent On Sexual And Verbal Self-control. Early Modern Women In Conversation Considers How Five Women Writers From The Prominent Sidney And Cavendish Families Negotiated The Gendered Interrelationship Between Conversation And The Spatial Boundaries Delimiting Conversational Encounters To Create Opportunities For Authoritative And Socially Transformative Utterance Within Their Texts. Conversation Emerges In This Book As A Powerful Rhetorical And Creative Practice That Remaps Women's Relationship To Space And Language In Early Modern England.--publisher's Description. 'intercourses Of Friendship': Gender, Conversation, And Social Performance -- Markets And Thresholds: Conversation As Spatial Practice -- Speaking To God With 'a Cloven Tongue': The Sidney-pembroke Psalter -- Conversational Games And The Articulation Of Desire In Mary Wroth's Love's Victory And Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost -- 'the Language Of Friendship And Conversation': Jane Cavendish And Elizabeth Brackley's Conversational Alliances -- The Civil Conversations Of Margaret Cavendish And Ben Jonson. Katherine R. Larson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Early Modern Authorship and Prose Continuations provides the first in-depth account of fictional sequels in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Examining instances of stories being continued by someone other than the 'original' author, it asks precisely what this distinction has meant historically. Why have some continuations been defined as 'spurious, ' and what can this tell us about the development of Early Modern attitudes towards authorship, originality, and narrative closure? Nuanced case studies spanning the period 1590 to 1760 explore paratextual disputes surrounding works by authors including Sir Philip Sidney, John Bunyan, and Samuel Richardson. Prefaces, commendatory verses, and correspondence provide evidence about the motivations of continuation-writers, the responses of authors and 'proprietors' to these texts, and the changing relationships between professional authors and their readers. Making connections between copyright law and literature, Early Modern Authorship and Prose Continuations thus serves as a valuable context for contemporary debates about 'fanfiction' and literary property"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 9 List of Abbreviations......Page 12 Note on Texts and References......Page 13 Introduction: Beyond the Humanist Dialogue: The Textual Conversations of Early Modern Women......Page 14 Part I: Gendering Conversation and Space in Early Modern England......Page 30 1 'Intercourses of Friendship': Gender, Conversation, and Social Performance......Page 32 2 Markets and Thresholds: Conversation as Spatial Practice......Page 52 Part II: The Sidneys in Conversation......Page 74 3 Speaking to God with 'a cloven tongue': The Sidney-Pembroke Psalter......Page 76 4 Conversational Games and the Articulation of Desire in Mary Wroth's Love's Victory and Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost......Page 102 Part III: The Cavendishes in Conversation......Page 124 5 'The language of friendship and conversation': Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth Brackley's Conversational Alliances......Page 126 6 The Civil Conversations of Margaret Cavendish and Ben Jonson......Page 151 Conclusion......Page 179 Notes......Page 184 Works Cited......Page 198 Index......Page 218 This book explores the significance of the physicality of manuscripts and printed early modern texts. Focusing on the material aspects and social practices of texts as a new way of reading meaning, it reassesses the developing relationships between cultures of manuscript and print from the late sixteenth to early eighteenth century. The first in-depth account of fictional sequels in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this examines cases of prose fiction works being continued by multiple writers, reading them for evidence of Early Modern attitudes towards authorship, originality, and literary property