ABSTRACT
In the preface of his poem, The Rape of Lucrece (1594), William Shakespeare pledges devotion to the young Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, and dedicates all his future work to him. In the preface to the mysteriously authored feminist poem, Willobie His Avisa (1594), the poet shows an intimate awareness of the newly published Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare. This mystery poet also draws a portrait of a woman being wooed by a young unmarried and virginal “H.W.” with the assistance of the experienced “older player,” “W.S.”. Evidence is presented that Willobie His Avisa is written by the feminist poet, Aemilia Lanyer. In The Taming of A Shrew (1594), there is a portrait of a loving couple; the assertive Emilia and the Ganymede-like Polidor. Polidor resembles the bisexual Henry Wriothesley. But when William Shakespeare corrected and augmented A Shrew to The Shrew (1623), he deleted this couple. It is suggested that Henry Wriothesley had two poets, Lanyer and Shakespeare, and that these three also formed a jealousy-riven love triangle that endured in various manifestations through Shakespeare's literary life. This book will comprise three studies demonstrating collaboration of Lanyer and Shakespeare, occasionally making reference to the love triangle involving their patron.
