Ecological escapism and women in the poetry and prose of Aemilia Lanyer and Lady Mary Wroth

This thesis is an examination of the ways in which Lady Mary Wroth and Aemilia Lanyer approach women and ecological spaces. These writers take almost opposite approaches to the types of nature explored and the actions that are possible within such freeing natural settings. This thesis argues that regardless of what type of space is being considered, early modern women writers perceived natural space as a gateway for female community, suffering, and longing. It carefully considers “The Description of Cookeham” from Aemilia Lanyer’s Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, “Song 1” from Pamphilia to Amphilanthus and The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania by Lady Mary Wroth and the ways in which female characters interact outside of the confines of patriarchal society and the ecological forces that afford them escape.