A Companion to Early Modern Womens Writing

This timely volume represents one of the first comprehensive, student–oriented guides to the under–published field of early modern women’s writing. It brings together new work by twenty–four of the best contemporary scholars who are pushing forward the boundaries of scholarship on early modern women′s writing from both sides of the Atlantic. The contributions balance a specific focus on individual texts with a broader examination of the relevant social and cultural contexts of early modern women′s writing, its generic diversity and some of the main theoretical questions that underpin its study. Ten key texts are considered, along with the major genres in which early modern women wrote and the theoretical issues to which their work gives rise. The volume provides readers with a clear sense of the full extent of women′s contributions to literary culture in early modern Britain. It will be welcomed by all those who teach courses on women writers and early modern women writers, and by those who wish to integrate more women writers into their Renaissance courses.

Notes on Contributors. Introduction: Anita Pacheco (Open University). Part I: Contexts: . 1. Women and Education: Kenneth Charlton (University of London). 2. Religion and the Construction of the Feminine: Diane Willen (Georgia State University). 3. Women, Property and Law: Tim Stretton (St Mary’s University, Nova Scotia). 4. Women and Work: Sara H. Mendelson (McMaster University). 5. Women and Writing: Margaret J. M. Ezell (Texas A&M University). Part II: Readings: . 6. Isabella Whitney, A Sweet Nosegay: Patricia Brace (Laurentian University). 7. Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, Psalmes: Debra K. Rienstra (Calvin College). 8. Aemilia Lanyer, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum: Susanne Woods (Wheaton College). 9. Elizabeth Cary, The Tragedy of Mariam and History: Elaine Beilin (Framingham State College). 10. Mary Wroth, The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania: Naomi J. Miller (University of Arizona). 11. Margaret Cavendish, A True Relation of My Birth, Breeding and Life: Gweno Williams (College of Ripon and York St John). 12. Anna Trapnel, Anna Trapnel′s Report and Plea: Hilary Hinds (Lancaster University). 13. Katherine Philips, Poems: Elizabeth H. Hageman (University of New Hampshire). 14. Aphra Behn, The Rover, Part One: Anita Pacheco (Open University). 15. Mary Astell: Critic of the Marriage Contract/Social Contract Analogue: Patricia Springborg (University of Sydney). Part III: Genres: . 16. Autobiography: Sheila Ottway. 17. Defences of Women: Frances Teague (University of Georgia) and Rebecca DeHaas (University of Georgia). 18. Prophecy: Elaine Hobby (Loughborough University). 19. Women′s Poetry 1550–1700: ‘Not Unfit to be Read′: Bronwen Price (Portsmouth University). 20. Prose Fiction: Paul Salzman (La Trobe University). 21. Drama: Sophie Tomlinson (University of Auckland). Part IV: Issues and Debates:. 22. The Work of Women in the Age of Electronic Reproduction: The Canon, Early Modern Women Writers and the Postmodern Reader: Melinda Alliker Rabb (Brown University). 23. Feminist Historiography: Margo Hendricks (University of California at Santa Cruz). Index

Anita Pacheco is a Lecturer in the English Department at the Open University. She has written extensively on Aphra Behn and early modern drama and is the author of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (2007) in the Writers and their Work series. She is the editor of Early Women Writers 1600–1720 (1998) and joint editor (with John Stachniewski) of John Bunyan: Grace Abounding with Other Spiritual Autobiographies (1998).

"Pacheco (humanities, Univ. of Hertfordshire) has produced a much–needed collection that puts into historical and literary perspective the study of early modern women and their writings. [...] In scholarship and critical depth, this volume compares favourably to the many recent publications on early modern women; what makes it particularly useful is its accessibility to students just becoming acquainted with the field." Choice "This is a worthwhile and well–produced volume ... [it] would make an excellent core text for students on courses on early modern women′s writing or gender studies[.]" English Historical Review