Autobiography and gender in early modern literature : reading women's lives : 1600-1680

Early modern autobiographies and diaries provide a unique insight into women's lives and how they remembered, interpreted and represented their experiences. Sharon Seelig analyzes the writings of six seventeenth-century women: diaries by Margaret Hoby and Anne Clifford, more extended narratives by Lucy Hutchinson, Ann Fanshawe, and Anne Halkett, and the extraordinarily varied and self-dramatizing publications of Margaret Cavendish. Combining an original account of the development of autobiography with analysis of the texts, Seelig explores the relation between the writers' choices of genre and form and the stories they chose to tell. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Preface......Page 10 Introduction: mapping the territory......Page 13 chapter 1 Margaret Hoby: the stewardship of time......Page 27 chapter 2 The construction of a life: the diaries of Anne Clifford......Page 46 chapter 3 Pygmalion’s image: the lives of Lucy Hutchinson......Page 85 chapter 4 Ann Fanshawe: private historian......Page 102 chapter 5 Romance and respectability: the autobiography of Anne Halkett......Page 122 chapter 6 Margaret Cavendish: shy person to Blazing Empress......Page 143 Conclusion: "The Life of Me"......Page 166 INTRODUCTION: MAPPING THE TERRITORY......Page 172 1 MARGARET HOBY: THE STEWARDSHIP OF TIME......Page 176 2 THE CONSTRUCTION OF A LIFE: THE DIARIES OF ANNE CLIFFORD......Page 182 3 PYGMALION’S IMAGE: THE LIVES OF LUCY HUTCHINSON......Page 189 4 ANN FANSHAWE, PRIVATE HISTORIAN......Page 194 5 ROMANCE AND RESPECTABILITY: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ANNE HALKETT......Page 196 6 MARGARET CAVENDISH: SHY PERSON TO BLAZING EMPRESS......Page 201 CONCLUSION......Page 206 MANUSCRIPT SOURCES......Page 207 PRINTED SOURCES......Page 208 SECONDARY SOURCES......Page 210 Index......Page 223 Early modern autobiographies and diaries provide a unique insight into women's lives and how they remembered, interpreted and represented their experiences. Sharon Seelig analyses the writings of six seventeenth-century women: diaries by Margaret Hoby and Anne Clifford, more extended narratives by Lucy Hutchinson, Ann Fanshawe, and Anne Halkett, and the extraordinarily varied and self-dramatising publications of Margaret Cavendish. Combining an account of the development of autobiography with close and attentive reading of the texts, Seelig explores the relation between the writers'choices of genre and form and the stories they chose to tell. She demonstrates how, in the course of the seventeenth century, women writers progressed from quite simple forms based on factual accounts to much more imaginative and persuasive acts of self-presentation. This important contribution to the fields of early modern literary studies and gender studies illuminates the interactions between literature and autobiography. Early modern autobiographies and diaries provide a unique insight into women's lives and how they remembered, interpreted and represented their experiences. The author of this book analyzes the writings of six seventeenth-century women: diaries by Margaret Hoby and Anne Clifford, more extended narratives by Lucy Hutchinson, Ann Fanshawe, and Anne Halkett, and the extraordinarily varied and self-dramatizing publications of Margaret Cavendish. Combining an original account of the development of autobiography with analysis of the texts, the author explores the relation between the writers' choices of genre and form and the stories they chose to tell.--Publisher's description "Early modern autobiographies and diaries provide a unique insight into women's lives and how they remembered, interpreted, and represented their experiences. Sharon Cadman Seelig analyzes the writings of six seventeenth-century women: diaries by Margaret Hoby and Anne Clifford, more extended narratives by Lucy Hutchinson, Ann Fanshawe, and Anne Halkett, and the extraordinarily varied and self-dramatizing publications of Margaret Cavendish. Combining a fresh account of the development of autobiography with close and attentive reading of the texts, Seelig explores the relation between the writers' choices of genre and form and the stories they chose to tell Early modern autobiographies and diaries provide a unique insight into women's lives and how they represented themselves. Combining a fresh account of the development of autobiography with close reading, this important contribution to the fields of early modern literary studies and gender studies illuminates the interactions between literature and autobiography. The diary of Lady Margaret Hoby is the earliest, and in many ways the least fully developed of the texts I consider; at times simply a sketch of her daily activities and religious observance, it is at the other end of the scale from the narratives with which I conclude this study.

this Important Contribution To Early Modern Literary Studies And Gender Studies Illuminates The Interactions Between Literature And Autobiography.