Women Writing in a Time of War, 1642-1689

Women Writing in a Time of War, 1642-1689 examines the stereotype of the apolitical woman who was nevertheless valuable as a messenger or secret agent during the English civil wars because her imagined lack of political acumen obscured her partisan behaviour.

List of contents

• List of Figures


• Note on the Text and Abbreviations


• Introduction: Hidden Works of Darkness


• 1: All Their Lying Pamphlets: Creating Suspicion


• 2: Sympathetic Letters: Reading Between the Lines


• 3: Material Difference: Disguise and Personhood


• 4: Networked Connections: Debt, Duplicity, and Distance


• Conclusion: Being Objective


• APPENDIX: Aphra Behn in Flanders


• Bibliography


• Index

About the author

Karen Britland is Halls-Bascom Professor of Early Modern Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has published widely on early modern drama and women's writing, most recently on the early life of the playwright Aphra Behn. She is a general editor for the Revels Plays series and has also edited a number of early modern plays. She is currently working on an edition of Shakespeare's Richard II for the Arden Shakespeare series.

Summary

Women Writing in a Time of War, 1642-1689 examines the stereotype of the apolitical woman who was nevertheless valuable as a messenger or secret agent during the English civil wars because her imagined lack of political acumen obscured her partisan behaviour.

Product details

• Authors: Karen Britland, Karen (Halls-Bascom Professor Britland, Britland Karen
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 26.06.2025
• EAN: 9780198946557
• ISBN: 978-0-19-894655-7
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; England, Poetry, Literary studies: general, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, Early modern warfare (including gunpowder warfare), English Civil War, Civil wars, HISTORY / Military / Early Modern Warfare (1500-1800), POETRY / Subjects & Themes / War, HISTORY / Military / Civil Wars