Forcing Female Authorship, Forbidding Female Reading

After Sparkish makes his case against authors in III.ii, he damns "silly authors...all books and booksellers...and all readers, courteous or uncourteous." Later in the scene, he states that "virtue makes a woman as troublesome as a little reading or learning." The male fear of female reading comes up again when Pinchwife forbids his wife from purchasing play books at the New Exchange. There is a similar male anxiety over female writing in the play, yet instead of Pinchwife forbidding Mrs. Pinchwife from this act, he encourages it. After realizing that a letter from his wife could be a powerful tool against Horner's advances, Pinchwife coerces her to write, supplying words and sentiments in order to fulfill his plan. Of course, the real power ultimately lies in Mrs. Pinchwife's ability to write her own letter to Horner. What does the play's treatment of authors, books, and readers say about conceptions of female authorship? How is authorship, especially the ability to construct narratives about self (Horner's tale), an important tool in the social world of Restoration London?