Women in the Age of Shakespeare

Contributing to the series exploring the relationship between Shakespeare's work and the world he lived in, Kemp (English and women's studies, U. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) introduce non-specialist students and general readers to some of the issues that rise in the academic study of women in the Elizabethan and Jacobian eras generally and in Shakespeare's works in particular. Among the questions she asks what kind of women are and are not represented in the plays, what rules seem to govern the behavior or women characters, and how early-modern patriarchy constricts them and how the resist and collude. In addition to portrayals of women at the time, she also discusses the sources for the ideas that then prevailed. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)