Caroline Lucas (1) (1960–)

[Writing for Women, Caroline Lucas]: The Example of Woman As Reader in Elizabethan Romance (Gender in Writing) by Caroline Lucas]

I was interested to read this, having found Lucas's book being referred to by other critics/reviewers of Elizabethan Romances. I have read a few of these romances and have wondered who would be the target audience in the period 1560-1600. Caroline Lucas claims that they were aimed at women readers and makes a strong case for this assumption. There are no references from women readers at the time in existence saying that they had read any of the romances, but certainly there are examples of dedications by male authors to female readers; for example Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia. The evidence points to the popularity of romance fiction by the numbers that have survived and the fact that some enjoyed reprints and therefore somebody must have been reading them.

Assuming that women were reading the romances, Lucas then asks why were they reading them and what would they have enjoyed. An issue for 21st century readers is all the romances published during this period were written by men. Written by men for women to read; they could hardly help, but to be androcentric and so Lucas stretches to giving them a 21st century feminist reading. She wonders if Elizabethan women read 'against the grain' seeing in the stories women acting strongly, independently and competently within the strictures of Elizabethan cultural norms. Remembering that men were writing about how women feel in the romances, did women readers challenge these presumptions, did they read between the lines as it were? what was their response as readers. Caroline Lucas carefully examines four texts for evidence of how male authors postulated to their female readers.

Typically in Elizabethan romances women characters are given plenty of space within the narrative. They do not take part in the fighting, jousting or wars, but they are concerned with family, their position in society and sometimes in politics. While chivalry seems still to reign supreme on the battlefield outdated ideas of courtly love no longer feature. Women are fighting for their own romantic notions whilst balancing these against the patriarchal society in which they live; who chooses their husbands or lovers, their parents, their peers or themselves? These are important and sometimes the main theme of the romances.

Lucas first looks at George Pettie's - A Petite Pallace of Pettie his pleasures 1576 which are a series of 12 stories adapted from classical Greek tales. Although Pettie places women squarely at the centre of his stories and makes them strong personalities his authorial intervention sometimes borders on being lewdly harassing. His tone is condescending and assured.

Robert Greene is next to come under Lucas's microscope; after all he was famous for his romances and fellow author Thomas Nash referred to him as the Homer of Women. Greene's female characters are usually strong resolute women, but Greene usually had a moral agenda which was typical of the time. Women must live up to man's idea of feminine virtues, he had a predilection for suffering heroines. In Greene's Mamillia it is the virtuous resourceful, women who bring their faithless men to heel. They are given significant, although limited power to act to shape their lives.

Lucas is perhaps more in admiration of Barnaby Riche who was a military man writing about martial arts, but who occasionally wrote romances. His collection of eight romances 'Riche his farewell to Military Profession' 1581 was a best seller. His fictional women have strength, independence, resourcefulness and wit. They behave virtuously and with a certain amount of freedom, which may well have surprised Riche's contemporary female readers.

Lucas final assessment is Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia and for once she does not come to any conclusions. She acknowledges that the quality of his writing gives a more nuanced approach, but she is ambivalent about how she reads him. I think more work could have been done here, but I do agree that The Arcadia and the New Arcadia are difficult to pin down.

There can of course be few conclusions from Lucas's postulations as she attempts to get inside the minds of Elizabethan women readers. It does however present a different aspect for readers today when approaching these texts. I will continue to read them and hopefully Lucas's ideas will add another dimension to the experience. 3.5 stars… (mehr)

I am old enough to have been involved in politics in the early 1980's when, the creation of the SDP gave hope of both proportional representation and a real break in our two party political system. Despite taking a huge chunk of votes, the SDP never achieved the break through and things eventually returned to the old confrontational style. This lead me to start this book with a health dose of scepticism; the only new kids on the political block are UKIP, a party almost unbelievably, to the right of the Conservative Party. Labour, the largest of the centre left parties, is doing its best to tear itself to pieces and the government are moving the goalposts in terms of boundary changes before the next election: surely, the Conservatives are going to lead for many years to come.

Gradually, as I read the various contributors, my attitude began to change. If, and it is a big if, the left leaning parties can learn to work together, we could put a cohesive alternative to Conservative 'austerity for the poor and riches for the rich' policy. There has only been one election, since WW II, at which the right have received over fifty per cent of the vote. At the same time, they have formed the government for a great amount of time than anyone else, largely thanks to the infighting of leftist groups.

It is incredible to think that we are currently suffering a Conservative government when the party received 24.3% of the electorate's votes. This cannot be correct. It is fine and dandy to talk of 'strong government' but, where has this supposed strength taken us? We are slipping, year by year, further down the list of best countries in which to live. Our finances become more perilous - even as the ordinary working person becomes less and less well paid. We now have record numbers of full time working people claiming benefits, just to keep their heads above water. Where is any evidence that this 'medicine' is leading to a brighter tomorrow for any but the already very rich?

Members of political parties tend to be protective of their own party and venom is often more viscously aimed at a group with whom they share some views as opposed to the outright opposition. It is going to take considerable selling to get many members to accept any agreement, particularly as Labour are so much the larger grouping in parliament; at least in part, due to the vagaries of first past the post politics. On the other hand, there is a growing acceptance that, if we don't do something, we will have a prolonged period of Conservative rule and will lose, amongst other things, our beloved NHS.

I am still to be fully convinced, but this book has taken me some way along the road.… (mehr)