Mary Wroth

Lady Mary Wroth was the first woman to write a complete sonnet sequence as well as an original work of prose fiction. She was born into a prominent literary family, with relatives that were also poets, and was admired by the leading poets of her time period. She broke through traditional writing boundaries by writing about secular love and romance. Wroth herself had an unhappy marriage. Her marriage was negotiated, which was very characteristic of this time period, and Wroth and her husband had disagreements almost immediately. Marie de France wrote her lais based on the standard of "business deal" marriages, or arranged marriages between aristocrats or those of a higher social class to carry on wealth or the family name. After Wroth's husband died, she had moved in with her cousin and had shared two children with him.

In "Pamphilia to Amphilanthus: 4" Wroth expresses her fearfulness, yet desire for her cousin. The fearfulness she talks about does not necessarily mean that she is afraid of her cousin specifically, but what people would do or think if they had found out. She is torn between getting closer to him to get to know him better, or resisting for the sake of her reputation. She is criticized when she has two children with her cousin. People had gossiped and she was left with no contact to the royal court.