Allegations: The Proto-Public Sphere and the Figure of the Female Accused (1550-1640)

"Allegations" charts how accused female characters across a number of early modern texts convene and organize relations among the English legal system, the emerging realm of popular print, and the proto-public sphere. Because these systems in their existing state largely fail to serve the women accused, the women instead refashion these established channels and summon their own assemblies in hopes of vindicating themselves. This assembled court of public opinion thus has the opportunity to override and modify the initial judgements that the existing channels of power hand down. The printed realm and the popular engagement it facilitates come to offer a counterweight to traditional arrangements, and the accused who reimagine the legal sphere through print lead the way towards more participatory elements in literature.