Stephanie Hodgson-Wright – författare

This multi-genre anthology brings together a wide selection of women's published writing from the Early Modern period. These include writings by Margaret Cavendish, Anne Trapnel, Aphra Behn, Mary Carleton, Elizabeth Cary, Jane Anger and Rachel Speght. The volume covers a representative range of published material from drama, poetry, fictional and polemical prose. Care has been taken to balance complete texts with substantial extracts. The Introduction sets out the aims of the volume and the principles of selection, as well as providing readers with a brief critical introduction to each of the texts. A detailed chronology is included to help readers place the texts in their historical and cultural contexts. Reflecting a range of women's experiences in the century between 1588 and 1688, this anthology provides a collection of material which will be a valuable resource for all teachers of Early Modern literature and women's writing. FeaturesAn Introduction which places the writings in historical and literary contextsA chronological tableTextual and explanatory notes to each textAuthor biographiesAn index of themes which aids teachers in selecting materials to suit their coursesA Bibliography of references and further reading which enables students to follow up authors and topics

This multi-genre anthology brings together a wide selection of women's published writing from the Early Modern period. These include writings by Margaret Cavendish, Anne Trapnel, Aphra Behn, Mary Carleton, Elizabeth Cary, Jane Anger and Rachel Speght. The volume covers a representative range of published material from drama, poetry, fictional and polemical prose. Care has been taken to balance complete texts with substantial extracts. The Introduction sets out the aims of the volume and the principles of selection, as well as providing readers with a brief critical introduction to each of the texts. A detailed chronology is included to help readers place the texts in their historical and cultural contexts. Reflecting a range of women's experiences in the century between 1588 and 1688, this anthology provides a collection of material which will be a valuable resource for all teachers of Early Modern literature and women's writing. FeaturesAn Introduction which places the writings in historical and literary contextsA chronological tableTextual and explanatory notes to each textAuthor biographiesAn index of themes which aids teachers in selecting materials to suit their coursesA Bibliography of references and further reading which enables students to follow up authors and topics

The four plays in this volume represent just a small fraction of the total output by early modern women dramatists. Other plays will appear in later volumes in the facsimile series devoted to individual authors. Marcelia (1660), The Perjur'd Husband (1700), She Ventures and He Wins (1695) and The Unnatural Mother (1698) were written at a point in time when women playwrights were becoming a significant force in the theatre. Many of these plays were first performed in key theatrical venues by well-established drama companies. The scant critical attention paid to these works since they were first written begins to be rectified in this volume. Stephanie Hodgson-Wright discusses the playwrights and their texts, and explains the choice of editions printed here.

The works included in this volume constitute Delarivier Manley's early oeuvre, written in the seventeenth century. They comprise one epistolary novella, Letters Written [sic] by Mrs Manley; one commendatory poem 'To the Author of Agnes de Castro'; one comedy, The Lost Lover, or The Jealous Husband, one tragedy, The Royal Mischief; and two commemorative poems, 'Melpomeme: The Tragick Muse' and 'Thalia: The Comick Muse'. In the light of new readings of Delarivier Manley's early work, this volume demonstrates her important contribution to the literary and theatrical milieu of the late seventeenth century.