Drawing on the work of Zizek and other psychoanalytic theorists, Corthell presents an alternative to new historicist ideas of "containment" by emphasizing the role of desire in the ideological work of creating, studying, and teaching Renaissance poetry. The gendered character of these activities is further critiqued by means of recent feminist work on psychoanalysis and literature.

Each chapter explores the interrelationships of representation, identification, and desire, while the book as a whole gradually shifts in emphasis from new historicist concerns with representation and the social realm toward psychoanalytic themes of identification, desire, and inwardness.

Analyzing both Donne's texts and Donne criticism from new historicist, feminist, and psychoanalytic perspectives, Corthell explores the reasons and desires behind our continued investment in the Renaissance, and Donne's poetry in particular.