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Article: Constructing a city of ladies. (the scholarly community for early modern women's studies)(Forum: Studying Early Modern Women)
- Article from:
- Shakespeare Studies
- Article date:
- January 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Associated University Presses. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Early modern women writes searched for a tradition and a community. Theirs was not so much the anxiety of influence as "the anxiety of absence," as I observed in 1985, an absence that I felt myself, as did many others working in this field (Silent 1). Our writing was often no more valued than that of the women we studied, giving us a sense of solidarity with them. Parallels between the women we studied and our own situation are evident in Jean R. Brink's 1980 introduction to Female Scholars: "Learned women, conscious of being "exceptions," made every effort to establish contacts with contemporary women who lived in other countries and also to study the work of their ...