Teaching Objective: This unit is designed to give students of English literature or gender studies an understanding of the roots of modern feminism through the examination of the prevailing misogyny of the period as well as the study of three English Renaissance female authors: Elizabeth I, Amelia Lanyer, and Margaret Cavendish.

Contents:

Outline of Lesson Cycle

• Part One: Misogynistic View of Women
• Part Two: A misogynistic Reading of Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale"
• Part Three: Obstacles Facing Women Authors
• Part Four: Education of Women
• Part Five: Traditional Writing of Renaissance Women
• Part Six: Work of Elizabeth I
• Part Seven: Work of Amelia Lanyer
• Part Eight: Work of Margaret Cavendish
• Works Cited
• Bibliography