Lady Mary Wroth was the first Englishwoman to write a complete sonnet sequence as well as an original work of prose fiction. Although earlier women writers of the sixteenth century had mainly explored the genres of translation, dedication, and epitaph, Wroth openly transgressed the traditional boundaries by writing secular love poetry and romances. Her verse was celebrated by the leading poets of the age, including Ben Jonson, George Chapman, Josuah Sylvester, and others. Despite the controversy over the publication in 1621 of her major work of fiction, The Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania, Wroth continued writing a second part of her romance and composed a five-act pastoral drama, Love's Victory.

The eldest daughter of Sir Robert Sidney and Lady Barbara Gamage, she was probably born on 18 October 1587, a date derived from the Sidney correspondence. She belonged to a prominent literary family, known for its patronage of the arts. Her uncle...