QUEER RHETORICS OF WOMEN WRITERS: ARTICULATING IDENTITY IN RENAISSANCE ENGLAND by Rachael Green-Howard A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Summer 2020 © 2020 Rachael Green-Howard All Rights Reserved QUEER RHETORICS OF WOMEN WRITERS: ARTICULATING IDENTITY IN RENAISSANCE ENGLAND by Rachael Green-Howard Approved: __________________________________________________________ John Ernest, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of English Approved: __________________________________________________________ John Pelesko, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ Douglas J. Doren, Ph.D. Interim Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate College I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Melissa Ianetta, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Julian Yates, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Miranda Wilson, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Lori Ostergaard, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people I need to recognize who directly contributed to the completion of this work. First, thanks to my committee, for their invaluable feedback and support. Thank you to Dr. Lori Ostergaard, for bringing her expertise and knowledge to my work. Dr. Miranda Wilson was one of my first introductions to seriously studying early modern women’s writing, and her encouragement and conversations over the years has strengthened my passion for the work. Thanks to Dr. Julian Yates for many things, but particularly for his feedback on my writing, which is precise and insightful and overwhelmingly kind and has made my work demonstrably better. Finally, to Dr. Melissa Ianetta, who has defined what a mentor is and can be. Her guidance and unwavering support from day one has shaped my research, writing, and teaching for the better. I am lucky to have had encountered all of these fantastic scholars along my journey. The University of Delaware English department is home to too many good professors to name individually—thank you to those who taught me in classes, who mentored me as a teacher, and who worked with me as I went through the program. I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities because of the program, including fellowships that have supported my research. Thank you to the University of Delaware library system. I’m very grateful for the spousal borrowing privileges at Princeton University and the University of Texas. I also would like to thank Austin Community College, particularly the English department and the dual credit/ early college high school program, for being a wonderful employer. iv I have met many incredible people while working on this dissertation. Jane Wessel, Petra Clark, and Halina Adams are wonderful mentors and even better friends. Thank you to friends from Princeton, especially the terrible movie crew and the trivia team. To those who knew me before I started this journey—thank you especially to Marina Boushra Freiberg, Anna Huber, Erica Boetefuer, and Adrienne Crivaro Moreno. You are the best friends-turned-family I could ever dream of, and our game nights gave me joy to look forward to as I wrapped up my dissertation in quarantine. To my family, I would not be even close to this milestone if not for you. You have supported me and lifted me up every step of the way. To my Moncher family, thank you for always making me feel loved. Thank you to my in-laws, Sue and Steve Howard and my brother-in-law Matt Howard, for all of your support throughout. To my sister, Erica Green, you are a wonderful person and a fantastic friend. To my parents, thank you for everything. You encouraged me to turn my obsession with reading everything near me into a career, and you’ve helped me get there every step of the way. Thank you to my mom, Nancy Green, for your enthusiasm and your genuine interest in everything I learned, which helped keep me focused and enjoying what I do. To my dad, Brian Green, thank you for helping to keep me grounded and encouraging me to move forward, all while helping me find my way. Thank you, always, to my husband, Mike Howard—you know what you did. To be more specific, that was always keeping my dreams in focus and believing in me, even when I couldn’t believe in myself. Thank you for being here for me on every part of this journey and being the best friend and spouse ever. Also thank you to Pippin for being perfect. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 Histories of Rhetoric and the Ideas They Overlook ........................................... 3 Building Frameworks: Connecting Feminist Rhetoric and Queer Theory ...... 17 Chapter Outlines ............................................................................................... 21 2 ELIZABETH I: ANDROGYNY, DESIRE, AND QUEENSHIP .................... 28 Princely Bonds, Power, and Kairos in Poetry Addressed to Women .............. 40 Gender, Flirtation, and Kingship ...................................................................... 54 Elizabeth I’s Play with Gender and Chastity ................................................... 67 3 ELIZABETH CARY: FEMALE BODIES AND FAMILIAL NEGOTIATIONS ............................................................................................ 69 Cary as Mother and Catholic in Text: The Lady Falkland, Her Life ............... 76 Embodied Rhetoric and Domestic Conversation in The Tragedy of Mariam .. 86 4 MARY WROTH, ROMANCE, AND MAKING THE FEMALE OBJECT A SUBJECT ................................................................................................... 108 Creating Emotions, Undercutting Virtues ...................................................... 114 Frameworks for Wroth’s Life and Works ..................................................... 122 Biography and Women’s Writing ............................................................ 125 Genre and Male Influence ........................................................................ 131 Wroth’s Characters as Negotiators ................................................................. 140 5 VARIED SPEECH, CHANGEABLE BODIES, AND MARGARET CAVENDISH’S QUEER RHETORICAL LEGACIES ................................ 151 Blazing Worlds and Female Bonds ................................................................ 158 Varied Bodies, Varied Speech, and Threatened Chastity .............................. 178 vi Cavendish’s Legacies of Virtue and Intelligence ........................................... 190 6 CONCLUSION: NEGOTIATING GENDER, SEX, AND WRITING AS WOMEN ........................................................................................................ 192 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 198 vii ABSTRACT Understanding rhetoric (speech and written texts focused on persuasion) and literature (drama, novels, stories, and poems) as separate fields is a modern division superimposed on the past rather than one made either when Greek and Roman rhetors were creating the terms, or when Renaissance thinkers were using them to define and analyze texts. In working to correct the current gap in scholarship that drives the two apart, this dissertation takes up four women writers’ literary texts from the Renaissance era for their ability to add to the feminist rhetoric canon. Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) are two women who already exist as figures in the history of women’s rhetoric because of their contributions to speeches, treatises, and philosophies—in other words, texts already read as rhetorical—while Elizabeth Cary (1585-1639) and Mary Wroth (1587-1653) are rarely mentioned, because their texts were primarily literary. In addition to reading select literary works for the rhetorical choices they make and demonstrate, this dissertation analyzes how their rhetorical choices and persuasive abilities were used to represent women’s bodies and desires in print spaces, in ways that today would be deemed queer or outside the heterosexual norm. Finally, these readings are put into context with the ways these women’s lives have been interpreted historically, putting