Marcie Frank explores the theoretical and literary legacy of John Dryden to a number of prominent women writers of his time. Frank examines the pre-eminence of gender, sexuality and the theater in Dryden's critical texts that are predominantly rewritings of the work of his own literary precursors—Ben Jonson, Shakespeare and Milton. She proposes that Dryden develops a native literary tradition that is passed on as an inheritance to his heirs—Aphra Behn, Catharine Trotter, and Delarivier Manley—as well as to their male contemporaries.