Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Note on Texts and References Introduction Beyond the Humanist Dialogue: The Textual Conversations of Early Modern Women PART I: GENDERING CONVERSATION AND SPACE IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND 'Intercourses of Friendship': Gender, Conversation, and Social Performance Markets and Thresholds: Conversation as Spatial Practice PART II: THE SIDNEYS IN CONVERSATION Speaking to God with 'a cloven tongue': The Sidney-Pembroke Psalter Conversational Games and the Articulation of Desire in Mary Wroth's Love's Victory and Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost PART III: THE CAVENDISHES IN CONVERSATION 'The language of friendship and conversation': Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth Brackley's Conversational Alliances The Civil Conversations of Margaret Cavendish and Ben Jonson Conclusion Notes Works Cited Index