The Professional Woman Writer 1660-1860

Emergence and rise of the professional woman writer from playwright and Royalist spy Aphra Behn (1640-89) to novelist and proto-feminist Charlotte Bronte (1816-55). How women writers dealt with criticism for writing publicly, placing each author and text in its historical and literary context. Range of poets, playwrights, and novelists including Eliza Haywood, Frances Burney, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Topics: gender roles and proto-feminism, the public versus the private sphere, sexuality, courtship and marriage.