This book brings the ideas of French feminist Hélène Cixous to bear on a number of Early Modern
English texts. The female characters of Mariam from Elizabeth Carys 'The Tragedy of Mariam'
Lavinia from William Shakespeares 'Titus Andronicus' as well as John Miltons Eve in 'Paradise
Lost' and the poetic voice of Isabella Whitney are investigated through the application of
Cixouss theories of figurative decapitation and disgorgement. The author examines the creation
of a unique discourse through the blending of what is stereotypically referred to as female
text with male discourse which results in what Cixous would call bisexual discourse.
