ABSTRACT
As well as poetry, Shakespeare-associated plays of this period address the theme of trapped women and rape. At the same time that the maiden Avisa was courted and abused by a rich aged nobleman and then courted and befriended by W.S., the play Locrine, about a captured Queen kept as King Locrine's secret paramour, was published “newly set forth, overseen & corrected by W.S.” It is proposed that, like Avisa, Locrine's paramour is modelled on Lord Hunsdon's former paramour and poet, Aemilia Lanyer who wrote both play and poem. Likewise, it is proposed that in both play and poem, W.S. was William Shakespeare, who edited and corrected her published play. Shakespeare is believed to have written or revised Acts 1 and 2 of the play Edward III. It also describes a woman being lured and threatened into the role of paramour. She resists in a manner not unlike Avisa's resistance. Evidence is presented that this play also was devised and largely written by Lanyer.
