La escritura femenina en lengua inglesa en el siglo XVII

Abstract

In spite of the numerous obstacles they encountered, 17th century women managed to find a place for themselves in traditionally all-male literary circles. Among many other difficulties, the theories concerning men's intellectual superiority fostered the stereotype of a rebel, wild and impudent female writer. After Aphra Behn, the first professional female writer, many other women authors gradually began to contribute to the family finances with their literary income. Their writings belong to various discourse genres (Aughterson 1995), ranging from domestic handbooks and personal letters, to political controversies and drama, besides poetry, sentimental prose, prose fiction or religious writings. The aim of this study is to review briefly and evaluate the heroic and transgressive work of those first women, the first “feminist” voices (Richards 1980), who decided that their role was not exclusively tied to the needle and stew anymore.