Major Women Writers of Seventeenth-Century England

By: Fitzmaurice, James

Book Overview

Many would find it difficult to name a woman writer in England before Jane Austen, even though women were writing as early as the time of Chaucer. It was during the seventeenth century, however, that women writers ceased to be viewed as odd or remarkable and became accepted as regular and often respected members of the literary world. The enormous commercial and artistic success of Aphra Behn's plays on the London stage of the 1670s and '80s marked the end of the time where only men were literary luminaries. Major Women Writers of Seventeenth-Century England brings together in one volume a rich assortment of writing by the women Behn influenced, as well as those who preceded her. Collected are works by Aphra Behn, Elizabeth Cary, Margaret Cavendish, Anne Finch, Aemelia Lanyer, Katherine Philips, Ester Sowernam, Rachel Speght, and Mary Wroth. The texts included are newly edited and rely on the best manuscripts and editions of the time. They are accompanied by clear introductions, helpful explanatory notes, and a range of illustrations from the period. Major Women Writers not only brings together the most significant women writers but also clearly shows the connections that exist between those who wrote without recognition in the earlier portions of this period and those who went on to celebrity status and sometimes financial success.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472066099
• ISBN13: 9780472066094
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

good basic selection

This is a good and basic selection of women writers from the period, though I wish the selection were more adventurous. As well, I think the book is far too expensive to use in a course since one must supplement these texts with others. But I am pleased to have this anthology. Now if only we could have an inexpensive anthology that covers the classical through the Renaissance periods.