"At last, a comprehensive collection of essays about early modern women that demonstrates the wide range of women's writing and reading practices during the period, from scientific discourse to commercial drama, from books of advice to accounts of prophecy. ...it offers a rich tapestry of critical approaches and textual information." Margaret J. M. Ezell, Journal of English & Germanic Philology

• Chronology: Women and literature in Britain, 1500–1700; Introduction Helen Wilcox; Part I. Constructing Women in Early Modern Britain: 1. Humanist education and the Renaissance concept of women Hilda L. Smith; 2. Religion and the construction of femininity Suzanne Trill; 3. Advice for women from mothers and patriarchs Valerie Wayne; 4. Women reading, reading women Jacqueline Pearson; 5. Women/'women' and the stage Ann Thompson; 6. Feminine modes of knowing and scientific enquiry Bronwen Price; Part II. Writing Women in Early Modern Britian: 7. Renaissance concepts of the 'woman writer' Margaret W. Ferguson; 8. Courtly writing by women Helen Hackett; 9. Women's poetry in early modern Britain Elizabeth H. Hageman; 10. Women's writing and the self Elspeth Graham; 11. The possibilities of prose Betty S. Travitsky; 12. The first female dramatists Ros Ballaster; Further reading.

"At last, a comprehensive collection of essays about early modern women that demonstrates the wide range of women's writing and reading practices during the period, from scientific discourse to commercial drama, from books of advice to accounts of prophecy. ...it offers a rich tapestry of critical approaches and textual information." Margaret J. M. Ezell, Journal of English & Germanic Philology

• Chronology: Women and literature in Britain, 1500–1700; Introduction Helen Wilcox; Part I. Constructing Women in Early Modern Britain: 1. Humanist education and the Renaissance concept of women Hilda L. Smith; 2. Religion and the construction of femininity Suzanne Trill; 3. Advice for women from mothers and patriarchs Valerie Wayne; 4. Women reading, reading women Jacqueline Pearson; 5. Women/'women' and the stage Ann Thompson; 6. Feminine modes of knowing and scientific enquiry Bronwen Price; Part II. Writing Women in Early Modern Britian: 7. Renaissance concepts of the 'woman writer' Margaret W. Ferguson; 8. Courtly writing by women Helen Hackett; 9. Women's poetry in early modern Britain Elizabeth H. Hageman; 10. Women's writing and the self Elspeth Graham; 11. The possibilities of prose Betty S. Travitsky; 12. The first female dramatists Ros Ballaster; Further reading.