FEMALE AGENCY AND CRITICISM OF MARITAL PRACTICES IN LADY MARY WROTH’S THE COUNTESS OF MONTGOMERY’S URANIA

Lady Mary Wroth is an innovative and unconventional figure both in terms of her personal background and her literary production within the sixteenth century social and political context. She is the author of the first sonnet sequence written by a woman, the producer of the first prose romance by a female pen, and one of the first female playwrights. Regarding her literary output, Wroth stands out as an author who prioritises the topics in relation to women. Her sonnet sequence serves as an instrument for expressing female voice; her romance includes myriad of female characters who question and rebel against the maxim of chaste-silent-obedient; her only play deals with relationships among several couples emphasising female achievement. Wroth’s determination to focus on women’s problems underscores the dissidence a woman could achieve under an apparently irresistible social and political formation. In The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania , she concentrates on the experiences of women who resist oppressive marital practices. In this sense, this paper aims to examine the social context as to the institution of marriage, the criticism Wroth poses against it, and female assertiveness in the case of unwanted matrimonies.