The renaissance of lesbianism in early modern England

V. Traub

Argues that early modern England witnessed a renaissance of representations of female homoerotic desire. By renaissance the author means three things. First, references to female-female desire in English texts increased dramatically over the 16th and 17th centuries. Second, representations of female-female desire during this period depended heavily on classical antecedents for their modes of comprehension. Finally, the use of the term renaissance is meant to reclaim, ironize, and redeploy the meaning of the Renaissance itself.