Review: Wade, Mara R. Gender Matters: Discourses of Violence in Early Modern Literature and the Arts

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review: Originating from papers presented at the 2007 conference “Gender Matters: Re- Reading Violence, Death, and Gender in Early Modern Literature and Culture” at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this edited volume presents an interdisciplinary and multivalent approach to questions surrounding gendered violence from the late Middle Ages through to the 18th century. Organized thematically, the collection predominantly treats Europe with an emphasis on England and Germany, but also includes an essay on Japanese drama (Oyler) and one that points to the New World (Niekerk). Because of its interdisciplinarity, with chapters in the fields of literature, history, musicology, art history, performance, and cultural studies, this volume is appealing and relevant to a wide range of scholars working in and around Early Modern Studies.