Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616

Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616

Sixteenth-century discourse is filled with criticisms about the ambition of women and the proletariat. This article explores the connection between gender, ambition, authority, reputation, and the language of condemnation at the Jacobean court. It argues that the prevailing rhetoric vilifying female...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lisa Baer-Tsarfati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scottish Studies Foundation 2020-01-01
Series:International Review of Scottish Studies
Online Access:https://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/index.php/irss/article/view/5901
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spelling doaj-960aa4995f78424cb073706f9253a5752020-11-25T03:47:13ZengScottish Studies FoundationInternational Review of Scottish Studies1923-57551923-57632020-01-014410.21083/irss.v44i0.5901Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616Lisa Baer-Tsarfati0University of GuelphSixteenth-century discourse is filled with criticisms about the ambition of women and the proletariat. This article explores the connection between gender, ambition, authority, reputation, and the language of condemnation at the Jacobean court. It argues that the prevailing rhetoric vilifying female ambition reflects contemporaneous anxieties about female dominance and authority. In turn, male invective, libel, and slander, directed toward politically active elite women, represent men’s attempts to re-exert their authority over women perceived to be subverting established hierarchies of power. By tracing the use of invective in letters, court poetry, and moral essays, this paper reveals the ways in which abusive language was used to damage women’s reputations in order to establish and maintain male authority over women and other men in the court of James VI/I. https://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/index.php/irss/article/view/5901
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Lisa Baer-Tsarfati
spellingShingle Lisa Baer-Tsarfati
Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616
International Review of Scottish Studies
author_facet Lisa Baer-Tsarfati
author_sort Lisa Baer-Tsarfati
title Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616
title_short Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616
title_full Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616
title_fullStr Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616
title_full_unstemmed Gender, Authority, and Control: Male Invective and the Restriction of Female Ambition in Early Modern Scotland and England, 1583–1616
title_sort gender, authority, and control: male invective and the restriction of female ambition in early modern scotland and england, 1583–1616
publisher Scottish Studies Foundation
series International Review of Scottish Studies
issn 1923-5755
1923-5763
publishDate 2020-01-01
description Sixteenth-century discourse is filled with criticisms about the ambition of women and the proletariat. This article explores the connection between gender, ambition, authority, reputation, and the language of condemnation at the Jacobean court. It argues that the prevailing rhetoric vilifying female ambition reflects contemporaneous anxieties about female dominance and authority. In turn, male invective, libel, and slander, directed toward politically active elite women, represent men’s attempts to re-exert their authority over women perceived to be subverting established hierarchies of power. By tracing the use of invective in letters, court poetry, and moral essays, this paper reveals the ways in which abusive language was used to damage women’s reputations in order to establish and maintain male authority over women and other men in the court of James VI/I.
url https://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/index.php/irss/article/view/5901
work_keys_str_mv AT lisabaertsarfati genderauthorityandcontrolmaleinvectiveandtherestrictionoffemaleambitioninearlymodernscotlandandengland15831616
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