The Critics

I've been reading quite a bit of criticism regarding Aemilia Lanyer lately, as I'm writing a paper for my 17th Century Pious British Literature class concerning her. She also happens to be the main focus of my thesis, though the scope has broadened considerably now to include medieval devotional literature and drama, as well as the medieval mystics (particularly the women).

I find it amusing to trace the development of the criticism, and a little bemusing at times as well.

Lanyer was brought to attention first when A.L. Rowse (and others, he is just the main name here) drew a connection between Lanyer and the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's sonnets. For several years, she was studied not on the merits of her product, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum but because of her connection to Shakespeare.

Then the focus switched to the remarkably feminist bent in the literature, and critics such as Barbara K. Lewalski determined that Lanyer was creating a community of good women, and placing women above men on the spiritual and moral level. They also focused extensively on the fact that Lanyer is the first woman to publish her own work, and, seemingly, the first woman to seek patronage of other women. Lanyer has even been criticized for seeking patronage and some critics would dismiss her work as mercenary because of this. That, of course, has been put aside because artists, male and female alike, relied on patrons for support at this time in history. To regard Lanyer as mercenary would also place all the male authors of the age in the same category.

What I find most interesting is that many critics, among them Lewalski, dismiss Lanyer's religious subject as a facade, considering it to be undermined by the feminist tack that was taken. Devotional literature was considered acceptable for women, and the assumption is that Lanyer wrote it simply because she could.

It is possible that Lanyer was simply meeting with convention, and did not feel any of the devotion or religiosity that she expressed. Yet, it does not necessarily follow that a feminist and a religious topic cannot go hand in hand. Feminism doesn't necessitate the obliteration of faith, nor does faith deny the existence of feminism.

I have taken a different tack in my research, of course, but more on that as I work on my paper, and develop my thesis.