"Female Perversity," Male Entitlement: The Agency of Gender in More's The History of Richard III
Most literary critics who study the treatment of women in More's The History of Richard III emphasize its portrait of Jane Shore as woman debauched; they conclude sometimes unwittingly that the text endorses a narrow view of the agency-political, sexual, and rhetorical-of upper-class women. Thi...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
1995
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 1995, Volume: 26, Issue: 2, Pages: 311-328 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Most literary critics who study the treatment of women in More's The History of Richard III emphasize its portrait of Jane Shore as woman debauched; they conclude sometimes unwittingly that the text endorses a narrow view of the agency-political, sexual, and rhetorical-of upper-class women. This essay reconsiders how the three female principals in the Richard are represented, and emphasizes More's strategies of privileging the voice of Queen Elizabeth Woodville Gray, who battles her late husband's brother, Richard, for the throne. She is created as a rhetorician who ably resists fictions of male entitlement, especially in her courtship by King Edward IV and in her struggle against Richard in Westminster. Through her resistance to the Yorks, More also resists some of the conventions of petrarchan desire, altruistic motherhood, dynastic marriage, and satanic congresses as political fictions. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/2542793 |