McGrath, Lynette. “‘Let Us Have Our Libertie Againe’: Amelia Lanier’s 17th-Century Feminist Voice.” Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 20, no. 3–4, 1992, pp. 331–348. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00497878.1992.9978917.
McGrath
states that she defines Lanyer’s work as feminist, but points out that the word
“feminist” had no value during Lanyer’s lifetime and is often universally
applied when there is no universal definition of feminism. Therefore, in her article, McGrath wants to
describe the “feminist quality of Lanier’s work with some exactness” (333). McGrath then highlights that one thing most
modern scholars note in Lanyer’s poem “Salve” is how much space is dedicated to
the praise of women instead of to Christ.
McGrath points out that in a culture “unconducive to women’s poetic expression,”
Lanyer uses her voice to praise women (335).
McGrath illustrates that much of Lanyer’s poem is spent contrasting what
women are and do with what men are and do.
She uses several examples from both the poem and from Lanyer’s life to
illustrate this concept. One significant
example McGrath uses from the poem is Eve.
She points out that Eve’s actions are “less heinous” than Adam’s because
she sinned for “knowledge sake” (339). McGrath
states that through using this example of Even, Lanyer is aligning herself with
Eve, declaring her “own bias in favor of women’s virtuous learning” (339). McGrath then notes how Lanyer uses a feminine
mode and structure, drawing on nature, as she writes her poem. McGrath illustrates that Lanyer writes a
female community into existence through her poem. McGrath gives several examples of both the
feminine mode and structure, as well as writing the female community into
example, with one example of Christ as “lover-like and feminine” and as a “member
of a community of women” (342). McGrath
concludes her article by stating once again that Lanyer’s work, and especially
this poem, is decidedly feminine.
-Rachelle Durrant
