the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries 3 -...
TRANSCRIPT
Contents
List of Illustrations xxvii
General Introduction xli
The Fourteenth through Seventeenth Centuries 3A Historical Overview, 1300–1700 4Women’s Place in Society: The Dispossessed 6Owning Their Words: Women’s Writing, 1300–1700 13Timeline 17
JULIAN OF NORWICH (c. 1342–c. 1416; England) 23
From Revelation of Divine Love 24Chapter 3, The illness thus obtained from God 24Chapter 5, God is all that is good 25Chapter 59, Wickedness is transformed into blessedness 26Chapter 60, We are brought back and fulfilled by our Mother Jesus 27
MARGERY KEMPE (c. 1373–c. 1438; England) 28
From The Book of Margery Kempe 29Chapter 1 [Margery’s First Vision] 29Chapter 11 [Margery Reaches a Settlement with Her Husband] 31Chapter 46 [Margery’s Encounter with the Mayor of Leicester] 32
ANNE ASKEW (c. 1521–1546; England) 33
The Ballad Which Anne Askew Made and Sang When She Was in Newgate 34
From The Latter Examination 36The Sum of My Examination afore the King’s Council at Greenwich 36
Cultural Coordinates: Needlework 39QUEEN ELIZABETH I (1533–1603; England) 41
The Dread of Future Foes 42
A Song Made by Her Majesty 42
ISABELLA WHITNEY (c. 1540s–c. 1578; England) 43
The Manner of Her Will, and What She Left to London and to All Those in It, at Her Departing 44
ix
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page ix
MARY SIDNEY HERBERT, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE (1561–1621;
England) 52
A Dialogue between Two Shepherds. Thenot and Piers, in Praise of Astraea 53
AEMILIA LANYER (1569–1645; England) 55
From Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum 56To the Virtuous Reader 56Eve’s Apology in Defence of Women 58The Description of Cooke-ham 60
Cultural Coordinates: Household Space 66LADY MARGARET CUNNINGHAM (c. 1580–c. 1622; Scotland) 68
From A Part of the Life of Lady Margaret Cuninghame, Daughter of the Earl of Glencairn, That She Had with Her First Husband, the Master of Evandale 68
[An account of domestic abuse] 68
LADY MARY WROTH (c. 1586–c. 1651; England) 70
From Pamphilia to Amphilanthus 711 [When night’s black mantle could most darkness prove] 7113 [Cloyed with the torments of a tedious night] 7215 [Dear famish not what you yourself gave food] 7216 [Am I thus conquered] 7222 [Come darkest night] 7325 [Like to the Indians, scorched with the sun] 73
LADY ANNE CLIFFORD (1590–1676; England) 74
From The Diary of Lady Anne Clifford (1616–19) 75February 1616 [Meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury] 75March 1616 [A Refusal to Capitulate] 76April 1616 [From London to Knole] 76May 1616 [Her Mother Dies] 77
Cultural Coordinates: Scolds 79DOROTHY LEIGH (Active c. 1616; England) 81
From The Mothers Blessing 81To My Beloved Sons, George, John, and William Leigh, All ThingsPertaining to Life and Godliness 81Chapter 2, The First Cause of Writing Is a Motherly Affection 82Chapter 13, It Is Great Folly for a Man to Mislike His Own Choice 82
x Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page x
ELIZABETH BROOKE JOCELIN (c. 1595–1622; England) 83
From The Mothers Legacie, to Her Unborne Childe 84Epistle Dedicatory: To My Truly Loving and Most Dearly Loved Husband,Turrell Jocelin 84
Cultural Coordinates: Women’s Community in Childbirth Rooms 87
ANNE BRADSTREET (1612–1672; England, American colonies) 89
From The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America 90The Prologue 90The Author to Her Book 91Before the Birth of One of Her Children 92In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet 93Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House 93To My Dear and Loving Husband 94
MARGARET FELL FOX (1614–1702; England) 95
From Women’s Speaking Justified 96[The Church of Christ Is a Woman] 96
LADY ANNE HALKETT (c. 1622–1699; England) 97
From Memoirs 98[Her Mother Threatens to Disown Her] 98
MARGARET LUCAS CAVENDISH, DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE(1623–1674; England) 100
From The Philosophical and Physical Opinions 101To the Two universities [Epistle: To the Most Famously Learned] 101
From Philosophical Letters: or, Modest Reflections 102XXXVI [Other Creatures May Be as Wise as Men] 102
MARY BOYLE RICH (1624–1678; Ireland, England) 103
From Diary 104[Events of 1624–43, Including a Complicated Romantic Affair] 104
Cultural Coordinates: Women’s Spiritual Diaries 111ELIZABETH CAVENDISH EGERTON (1626–1663; England) 113
From Loose Papers 113When I Lost My Dear Girl Kate 113
KATHERINE FOWLER PHILIPS (1631–1664; England) 114
A Married State 114
Contents xi
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xi
Upon the Double Murder of K. Charles I 115
On the Death of My First and Dearest Child, Hector Philips 116
Friendship’s Mystery, To My Dearest Lucasia 117
To My Excellent Lucasia, On Our Friendship 118
Orinda to Lucasia 118
MARY ROWLANDSON (c. 1637–1711; England, American colonies) 119
From A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. MaryRowlandson 120
The First Remove 120The Third Remove 122The Twentieth Remove 124
APHRA BEHN (c. 1640–1689; England) 125
The Rover 127
Cultural Coordinates: Restoration Actresses 200ANNE KILLIGREW (c. 1660–1685; England) 202
A Farewell to Worldly Joys 202
Upon the Saying That My Verses Were Made by Another 203
The Discontent 204
ANNE FINCH (1661–1720; England) 207
A Letter to Daphnis 208
The Introduction 209
Ardelia to Melancholy 210
To the Nightingale 211
The Apology 212
A Nocturnal Reverie 213
Cultural Coordinates: Menstruation and Misogyny 215JANE SHARP (Active 1671; England) 216
From The Midwives Book 217Of the Fashion and Greatness of the Womb, and of the Parts It Is Made Of 217
The Eighteenth Century 221The Eighteenth Century: An Overview 221Women’s Place in Society: The Rise of the New Domestic Woman 226
xii Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xii
Women and the Literary Scene, 1700–1799 234Timeline 236
LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU (1689–1762; England) 239
From Turkish Embassy Letters 240Letter 27 [A Visit to a Turkish Bath] 240Letter 41 [Sultana Hafise] 243
ELIZA HAYWOOD (c. 1693–1756; England) 248
[The Dangers of Tea] 249
MARY LEAPOR (1722–1746; England) 251
Crumble-Hall 251
An Essay on Woman 255
The Headache 257
MERCY OTIS WARREN (1728–1814; United States) 258
An Address to the Inhabitants of the United States 259
JANET SCHAW (1734–c. 1801; Scotland) 262
From The Journal of a Lady of Quality: Being a Narrative of a Journey fromScotland to the West Indies 262
[Society in Antigua] 262[A Visit to Olovaze] 264
Cultural Coordinates: At Sea 267MARY COLLIER (Active 1739–1760; England) 269
The Woman’s Labour 269
ANNA LAETITIA AIKIN BARBAULD (1743–1825; England) 275
The Rights of Woman 276
To a Little Invisible Being Who Is Expected Soon to Become Visible 277
Washing-Day 278
ABIGAIL ADAMS (1744–1818; United States) 280
From The Adams Family Correspondence 281[The Nature of Woman’s Experience] 281[“Remember the Ladies”] 282[Education in the New Republic] 284
Cultural Coordinates: Bluestockings 285HANNAH MORE (1745–1833; England) 287
The Black Slave Trade 288
Contents xiii
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xiii
From Strictures on a Modern System of Female Education 296Chapter 1, An Address to Women of Rank and Fortune 296
The White Slave Trade 306
Cultural Coordinates: The Hoop-Petticoat 311FRANCES BURNEY (D’ARBLAY) (1752–1840; England) 313
From The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney 315[A Young Writer’s Diary] 315
From Diary and Letters of Madame d’Arblay 316[The Publication of Evelina] 316
From The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney 321[Life in the Court of George III] 321
From Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World 322
Letter 10 [Evelina Arrives in London] 322Letter 11 [Evelina at the Ball] 324Letter 12 [A Trip to Ranelagh] 329Letter 15 [A Dangerous Walk in Vauxhall] 332
Cultural Coordinates: Shopping 340PHILLIS WHEATLEY (c. 1754–1784; United States) 342
On Being Brought from Africa to America 343
On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield 343
To S. M. a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works 344
To His Excellency General Washington 345
JANE CAVE (Active c. 1786; England) 346
Written by the Desire of a Lady, on an Angry, Petulant Kitchen-Maid 346
Written a Few Hours before the Birth of a Child 347
ELIZA FAY (1756–1816; England) 348
From Original Letters from India 349Letter 14 [Madras] 349Letter 15 [Calcutta] 351Letter 16 [Calcutta cont’d] 352Letter 20 [Calcutta cont’d] 355
MARY DARBY ROBINSON (1758–1800; England) 358
London’s Summer Morning 360
January, 1795 361
xiv Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xiv
Cultural Coordinates: Prostitution 363MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (1759–1797; England) 365
From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with Strictures on Political andMoral Subjects 366
Author’s Introduction 366Chapter 2, The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character Discussed 370Chapter 9, Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from the UnnaturalDistinctions Established in Society 375
Cultural Coordinates: Breast-feeding and the Wet Nurse 383
JANET LITTLE (1759–1813; Scotland) 384
Given to a Lady Who Asked Me to Write a Poem 384
MARIA EDGEWORTH (1767–1849; Ireland, England) 386
From Letters for Literary Ladies 388Letters of Julia and Caroline 388
DOROTHY WORDSWORTH (1771–1855; England) 402
From The Grasmere Journals 403[A Brother’s Departure, May 14, 1800] 403[Daffodils, April 1802] 404[Good Friday, April 16, 1802] 405[William Marries, September 24, 1802] 406
MARY BIRKETT (1774–1817; Ireland) 407
A Poem on the African Slave Trade 408
Cultural Coordinates: The Tea Table 416MARY PRINCE (1788–c. 1833; Bermuda, Turk Islands, Antigua, England) 418
The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave 419
ELIZABETH HANDS (Active 1789; England) 438
Written, Originally Extempore, on Seeing a Mad Heifer Run through theVillage Where the Author Lives 439
A Poem, on the Supposition of the Book Having Been Published and Read 439
ANNA MARIA FALCONBRIDGE (Active 1790s; England) 442
From Two Voyages to Sierra Leone 443[A Trip to Bance Island] 443
Contents xv
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xv
The Nineteenth Century 451The Nineteenth Century: An Overview 451Women’s Place in Society: Re-imagining Womanhood 460Women’s Writing, 1800–1899 463Timeline 470
Cultural Coordinates: The First Australian Woman Writer 477
SUSANNA HASWELL ROWSON (1762–1824; England, United States) 478
Charlotte Temple 479
Cultural Coordinates: The Corset, or Why Heroines FaintSo Often 543
JANE AUSTEN (1775–1817; England) 545
Library of Women’s Literature: Pride and Prejudice (1813)
From Northanger Abbey 547Chapters 4–5 [Catherine and Isabella Become Friends] 547
Cultural Coordinates: Cassandra’s Sketch and “Gentle Jane” 552
CATHARINE MARIA SEDGWICK (1789–1867; United States) 554
Cacoethes Scribendi 555
LYDIA HOWARD HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY (1791–1865; United States) 564
To a Shred of Linen 566
Unspoken Language 567
Eve 570
FELICIA DOROTHEA BROWNE HEMANS (1793–1835; England) 572
England’s Dead 574
Bring Flowers 575
Casabianca 576
MARY SHELLEY (1797–1851; England, Italy) 577
From Frankenstein [The Monster’s Narrative] 579Chapter 11 [The Monster’s Early Days] 579Chapter 12 [The Monster Learns Language] 584Chapter 13 [The Monster Begins to Recognize His Difference] 587Chapter 14 [The Cottagers’ History] 590
xvi Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xvi
Chapter 15 [The Monster Reads the Classics and Makes a Friend] 593Chapter 16 [The Monster Seeks His Creator] 598Chapter 17 [The Monster’s Demand] 603
SOJOURNER TRUTH (c. 1797–1883; United States) 606
From The Narrative of Sojourner Truth 607Her Birth and Parentage 607Accommodations 607Her Brothers and Sisters 608
[Sojourner Truth’s “Ar’n’t I a Woman” Speech, as Reported in the Anti-Slavery Bugle] 609
[Sojourner Truth’s “Ar’n’t I a Woman” Speech, as Recorded in Reminiscencesof Frances D. Gage] 609
Cultural Coordinates: Cartes de Visite 612HARRIET MARTINEAU (1802–1876; England) 613
From Morals of Slavery 614
LYDIA MARIA CHILD (1802–1880; United States) 619
From An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans 620Preface 620Chapter 1, Brief History of Negro Slavery 621
From Letters from New-York 631Letter 34 [Women’s Rights] 631
SUSANNA MOODIE (1803–1885; England, Canada) 635
From Roughing It in the Bush 637[The Adventures of One Night] 637
Cultural Coordinates: How Did They Do It? The Mechanics of Writing 640
ANGELINA GRIMKÉ (WELD) (1805–1879; United States) 642
From Appeal to the Christian Women of the South 643
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING (1806–1861; England, Italy) 650
From Sonnets from the Portuguese 65214 [If thou must love me, let it be for nought] 65243 [How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.] 652
From Aurora Leigh 653Book 1 [Aurora’s Education] 653
FRANCES DANA GAGE (1808–1880; United States) 680
Tales of Truth, No.1 681
Contents xvii
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xvii
MARGARET FULLER (1810–1850; United States) 685
From Summer on the Lakes 686Summer on the Lakes 686To a Friend 686Chapter 1 [Gateway to the West: Niagara Falls] 687
A Short Essay on Critics 689
From Woman in the Nineteenth Century 693Preface 693[Woman, Present and Future] 694
Cultural Coordinates: Niagara Falls 711ELIZABETH GASKELL (1810–1865; England) 713
The Three Eras of Libbie Marsh 714
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE (1811–1896; United States) 732
From Uncle Tom’s Cabin 734Chapter 1, In Which the Reader Is Introduced to a Man of Humanity 734Chapter 5, Showing the Feelings of Living Property on Changing Owners 741Chapter 7, The Mother’s Struggle 747Chapter 14, Evangeline 756Chapter 22, “The Grass Withereth—the Flower Fadeth” 762Chapter 32, Dark Places 767Chapter 40, The Martyr 774
Cultural Coordinates: The Realism of Stereotypes 779FRANCES (FANNY) LOCKE OSGOOD (1811–1850; United States) 781
Ellen Learning to Walk 781
The Little Hand 782
He Bade Me Be Happy 783
Forgive and Forget 783
A Reply 783
Cultural Coordinates: The Invention of the Ladies’Magazine: Godey’s Lady’s Book 785
FANNY FERN (SARA PAYSON WILLIS PARTON) (1811–1872;
United States) 787
Hints to Young Wives 788
xviii Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xviii
Mrs. Stowe’s Uncle Tom 789
Shall Women Vote? 790
The Working Girls of New York 791
HARRIET JACOBS (1813–1897; United States) 792
From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 793Written by Herself 793Preface by the Author 794Introduction by the Editor 794Chapter 1, Childhood 795Chapter 2, The New Master and Mistress 797Chapter 5, The Trials of Girlhood 801Chapter 10, A Perilous Passage in the Slave Girl’s Life 803Chapter 21, The Loophole of Retreat 806Chapter 41, Free at Last 809
Cultural Coordinates: Reward for the Capture of Harriet Jacobs 814
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON (1815–1902; United States) 816
Declaration of Sentiments 817
The Solitude of Self 818
Cultural Coordinates: The Seneca Falls Convention 824CHARLOTTE BRONTË (1816–1855; England) 826
[We wove a web in childhood] 828
Library of Women’s Literature: Jane Eyre (1847)
Cultural Coordinates: Phrenology 834EMILY BRONTË (1818–1848; England) 836
A.G.A: To the Bluebell 837
Song [O between distress and pleasure] 838
Love and Friendship 839
[Shall earth no more inspire thee] 839
[I do not weep, I would not weep] 840
To Imagination 840
[No coward soul is mine] 841
Contents xix
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xix
Women Composers of Hymns, 1840–1899 842
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS (1805–1848; England) 843
Nearer, My God, to Thee 843
JULIA WARD HOWE (1819–1910; United States) 844
Battle Hymn of the Republic 844
ANNE BRONTË (1820–1849; England) 845
The Narrow Way 845
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI (1830–1894; England) 846
In the Bleak Midwinter 846
KATHARINE LEE BATES (1859–1929; United States) 847
O Beautiful for Spacious Skies 847
SUSAN WARNER (1819–1885; United States) 848
From The Wide, Wide World 849Chapter 1 [Ellen and Her Mother] 849Chapter 3 [Ellen Goes Shopping] 854
GEORGE ELIOT (1819–1880; England) 862
Silly Novels by Lady Novelists 864
Cultural Coordinates: Spirit Rappers and Spiritualism 881
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE (1820–1910; England) 883
From Cassandra 885Part 2 [Intellect] 885Part 4 [Moral Activity and Marriage] 889Part 7 [The Dying Woman] 892
MARY BOYKIN CHESNUT (1823–1886; United States) 892
From Civil War Journal 893February 18, 1861 [I wanted them to fight and stop talking] 893February 19, 1861 [We have to meet tremendous odds] 895
HARRIET E. WILSON (1825?–1900?; United States) 897
From Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black 898Preface 898Chapter 1, Mag Smith, My Mother 899Chapter 2, My Father’s Death 902Chapter 3, A New Home for Me 905
xx Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xx
CATHERINE HELEN SPENCE (1825–1910; Scotland, Australia) 910
From Clara Morison 911Chapter 8, At Service 911
FRANCES E. W. HARPER (1825–1911; United States) 914
Eliza Harris 915
The Slave Mother 917
The Two Offers 918
Aunt Chloe’s Politics 925
Woman’s Political Future 925
DINAH MULOCK CRAIK (1826–1887; England) 928
From A Woman’s Thoughts about Women 929Chapter 1, Something to Do 929
HELEN HUNT JACKSON (1830–1885; United States) 935
My Tenants 935
September 936
The Victory of Patience 937
Chance 938
EMILY DICKINSON (1830–1886; United States) 938
6 [Frequently the woods are pink] 939
14 [One sister have I in our house] 940
216 [Safe in their Alabaster Chambers] 940
241 [I like a look of Agony] 941
249 [Wild Nights—Wild Nights!] 941
252 [I can wade Grief] 941
258 [There’s a certain Slant of light] 942
280 [I felt a Funeral, in my Brain] 942
288 [I’m Nobody! Who are you?] 943
341 [After great pain, a formal feeling comes] 943
365 [Dare you see a Soul at the White Heat?] 943
441 [This is my letter to the World] 944
444 [It feels a shame to be Alive] 944
579 [I had been hungry, all the Years] 944
656 [The name—of it—is “Autumn”] 945
709 [Publication—is the Auction] 945
754 [My Life has stood—a Loaded Gun] 946
Contents xxi
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xxi
812 [A Light exists in Spring] 946
912 [Peace is a fiction of our Faith] 947
986 [A narrow Fellow in the Grass] 947
1101 [Between the form of Life and Life] 948
1129 [Tell all the Truth but tell it slant] 948
1263 [There is no Frigate like a Book] 948
1580 [We shun it ere it comes] 948
LettersTo Susan Gilbert (Dickinson), early June 1852 949To T. W. Higginson, 7 June 1862 950To T. W. Higginson, February 1885 951
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI (1830–1894; England) 951
A Birthday 953
A Better Resurrection 953
Goblin Market 954
In an Artist’s Studio 966
REBECCA HARDING DAVIS (1831–1910; United States) 966
Life in the Iron-Mills 967
ANNA LEONOWENS (1831–1914; England, Colonial: India, Singapore, Thailand,
United States, and Canada) 992
From The Romance of the Harem 993Chapter 2, Tuptim: A Tragedy of the Harem 993
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT (1832–1888; United States) 999
A Double Tragedy: An Actor’s Story 1000
Library of Women’s Literature: Little Women (1868)
HANNAH CRAFTS (Active 1850s, United States) 1013
From The Bondwoman’s Narrative 1014Preface 1014Chapter 1, In Childhood 1014
ISABELLA BEETON (1836–1865; England) 1021
From Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management 1022[Sample Recipes] 1022
Lark Pie (An Entrée) 1022Boiled Asparagus 1023Christmas Plum-Pudding 1023
[Sample Bills of Fare] 1024Plain Family Dinners for January 1024
xxii Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxii
[Sample Sections from “Household Management”] 1025Duties of the Valet 1025The Wet-Nurse 1027
Cultural Coordinates: Level Measures 1031SARAH WINNEMUCCA HOPKINS (c. 1844–1891; Paiute: United States) 1033
From Life among the Piutes 1033Chapter 1, First Meeting of Piutes and Whites 1033
EMMA LAZARUS (1849–1887; United States) 1035
In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport 1036
1492 1038
The New Colossus 1038
Cultural Coordinates: The Sewing Machine 1039SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849–1909; United States) 1041
A White Heron 1042
KATE CHOPIN (1850–1904; United States) 1048
The Awakening 1049
ROSA PRAED (1851–1935; Australia) 1135
From Policy and Passion 1137An Australian Explorer 1137
MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN (1852–1930; United States) 1142
A Poetess 1143
PANDITA RAMABAI SARASWATI (1858–1922; India) 1152
From The High Caste Hindu Woman 1154Chapter 5 [Suttee] 1154
CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN (1860–1935; United States) 1157
The Yellow Wallpaper 1158
Cultural Coordinates: Nervousness and the Rest Cure 1170
MARY KINGSLEY (1862–1900; England) 1172
From Travels in West Africa 1173[A West African River and a Canoe] 1173
Contents xxiii
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxiii
The Twentieth and Twenty–first Centuries 1181The Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: An Overview 1182Global Englishes: The Spread of English in the Twentieth and Twenty-first
Centuries 1185Women’s Place in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: Women in
Movement 1187Women’s Writing, 1900 to the Present: The Shape and Limitations of Modernism and
Postmodernism 1193Timeline 1199
ANNIE BESANT (1847–1933; England, India) 1212
From A Nation’s Rights 1213[The Foundation of Rights] 1213
Cultural Coordinates: A History of the Bra 1216EDITH WHARTON (1862–1937; United States, France) 1218
Library of Women’s Literature: House of Mirth (1905)
Roman Fever 1219
EDITH MAUD EATON (SUI SIN FAR) (1865–1914; England, United States,
Canada) 1218
In the Land of the Free 1229
Cultural Coordinates: Chinese American Women andImmigration 1236
CORNELIA SORABJI (1866–1954; India, England) 1238
From India Calling 1239Chapter 2, Preparation and Equipment: In India and England 1239
KATHERINE MAYO (1867–1940; United States) 1250
From Mother India 1251Chapter 8, Mother India 1251
Cultural Coordinates: The Memsahib 1256ELLEN GLASGOW (1873–1945; United States) 1258
Jordan’s End 1259
WILLA CATHER (1873–1947; United States) 1269
A Wagner Matinee 1270
xxiv Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xxiv
GERTRUDE STEIN (1874–1946; United States, France) 1275
Ada 1276
Preciosilla 1278
Susie Asado 1278
From Patriarchal Poetry 1279[Their Origin and Their History] 1279
Cultural Coordinates: Two Women Writers in Paris, Never Meeting 1285
ALICE DUNBAR-NELSON (1875–1935; United States) 1287
Sister Josepha 1288
I Sit and Sew 1292
SUSAN GLASPELL (1876–1948; United States) 1292
Trifles 1293
ZITKALA SA (GERTRUDE SIMMONS BONNIN) (1876–1938; Sioux:
United States) 1303
From School Days of an Indian Girl 1305The Cutting of My Long Hair 1305
Why I Am a Pagan 1306
Cultural Coordinates: Indian Boarding Schools 1309MARGARET COUSINS (1878–1954; Ireland, India) 1311
From The Awakening of Asian Womanhood 1311
Chapter 2, Indian Womanhood: A National Asset 1311
SAROJINI NAIDU (1879–1949; India) 1313
The Gift of India 1314
The Indian Gypsy 1315
Bangle-Sellers 1315
ROKEYA SAKHAWAT HOSSAIN (1880–1932; Bangladesh, India) 1316
Sultana’s Dream 1317
Cultural Coordinates: Purdah 1325MOURNING DOVE (HUMISHUMA/CHRISTINE QUINTASKET)(1882?–1936; Colville-Okanaga: United States) 1327
From Cogwea, the Half-Blood 1327[The Indian Dancers] 1327
Contents xxv
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xxv
VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941; England) 1330
Kew Gardens 1332
Mrs. Dalloway in Bond Street 1336
Library of Women’s Literature: Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
From A Room of One’s Own 1342[Shakespeare’s Sister] 1342[Peroration: Women Write!] 1346
A Haunted House 1350
ANZIA YEZIERSKA (c. 1885–1970; Poland, United States) 1351
Soap and Water 1352
Cultural Coordinates: Sweatshops 1357ISAK DINESEN (KAREN BLIXEN) (1885–1962; Denmark, Kenya) 1359
The Blank Page 1360
H.D. (HILDA DOOLITTLE) (1886–1961; United States, England, Switzerland) 1363
From The Walls Do Not Fall 13649 [Thoth, Hermes, the stylus] 136410 [But we fight for life] 1365
From Tribute to the Angels 13658 [Now polish the crucible] 13659 [Bitter, bitter jewel] 136611 [O swiftly, re-light the flame] 136612 [Swiftly re-light the flame] 136713 [“What is the jewel colour?”] 136719 [We see her visible and actual] 136820 [Invisible, indivisible Spirit] 136821 [There is no rune nor riddle] 136823 [We are part of it] 136928 [I had been thinking of Gabriel] 136935 [So she must have been pleased with us] 137036 [Ah (you say), this is Holy wisdom] 137039 [But nearer than Guardian Angel] 1371
From The Flowering of the Rod 13715 [Satisfied, unsatisfied] 13716 [So I would rather drown, remembering] 1372
MARIANNE MOORE (1887–1972; United States) 1373
The Fish 1374
The Paper Nautilus 1375
In Distrust of Merits 1376
xxvi Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxvi
WILLA MUIR (1890–1970; Scotland) 1378
From Imagined Corners 1379Chapter 3 [Elizabeth Ramsay and Elizabeth Shand] 1379
JEAN RHYS (1890–1979; Dominica, France, England) 1382
Library of Women’s Literature: Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
From Smile, Please 1384My Mother 1384Black/White 1386Carnival 1389
KATHERINE ANNE PORTER (1890–1980; United States) 1389
Virgin Violeta 1390
African American Women’s Blues 1397
GERTRUDE “MA” RAINEY (1886–1939; United States) 1398
Louisiana Hoodoo Blues 1399
Prove It on Me Blues 1399
ALBERTA HUNTER (1895–1984; United States) 1400
I Got Myself a Workin’ Man 1400
You Gotta Reap What You Sow 1401
BESSIE SMITH (1898?–1937; United States) 1402
Preachin’ the Blues 1402
Poor Man’s Blues 1403
Cultural Coordinates: A Blues Life—Billie Holiday 1404
ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1891–1960; United States) 1405
Sweat 1406
NELLA LARSEN (1891–1964; United States) 1414
Sanctuary 1415
Cultural Coordinates: Anti-Lynching Campaigns 1419EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY (1892–1950; United States) 1421
[I, being born a woman and distressed] 1421
From Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree 14221 [So she came back into his house again] 142210 [She had forgotten how the August night] 1422
Justice Denied in Massachusetts 1423
Contents xxvii
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 3:43 PM Page xxvii
From Fatal Interview 142420 [Think not, nor for a moment let your mind] 142426 [Women have loved before as I love now] 1424
DJUNA BARNES (1892–1982; United States) 1424
Mother 1425
DOROTHY PARKER (1893–1967; United States) 1428
Lady with a Lamp 1429
Cultural Coordinates: Margaret Sanger, Abortion, andBirth Control 1435
MERIDEL LESUEUR (1900–1996; United States) 1437
Rite of Ancient Ripening 1437
EUDORA WELTY (1909–2001; United States) 1439
A Still Moment 1441
TILLIE OLSEN (1912–2007; United States) 1449
Silences 1450
ATTIA HOSAIN (1913–1998; India) 1461
After the Storm 1462
GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917–2000; United States) 1464
the mother 1465
a song in the front yard 1466
The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith 1466
the white troops had their orders but the Negroes looked like men 1470
The Lovers of the Poor 1470
LOUISE BENNETT COVERLEY (1919–2006; Jamaica, Canada) 1473
Home Sickness 1473
America 1474
DORIS LESSING (1919– ; Colonial: Iran, Zimbabwe, England) 1475
A Sunrise on the Veld 1476
HISAYE YAMAMOTO (1921– ; United States) 1481
Seventeen Syllables 1482
NADINE GORDIMER (1923– ; South Africa) 1491
Town and Country Lovers 1492
xxviii Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/29/07 10:38 AM Page xxviii
DENISE LEVERTOV (1923–1997; England, United States) 1504
Advent 1966 1504
Tenebrae 1505
Witness 1506
MITSUYE YAMADA (1923– ; Japan, United States) 1506
P.O.W. 1507
Cincinnati 1508
Another Model 1509
Mirror Mirror 1509
BERYL GILROY (1924–2001; Guyana, England) 1510
From Black Teacher 1510[Inside London Schools] 1510
ANNE RANASINGHE (1925– ; Germany, England, Sri Lanka) 1516
Auschwitz from Colombo 1517
NAYANTARA SAHGAL (1927– ; India) 1518
From Prison and Chocolate Cake 1519[Walking with Gandhi] 1519
MAYA ANGELOU (1928– ; United States) 1529
From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 1530[Words] 1530
MARJORIE OLUDHE MACGOYE (1928– ; England, Kenya) 1536
From Coming to Birth 1536Chapter 1 [Lost in the City] 1536
ANNE SEXTON (1928–1974; United States) 1544
Little Girl, My Stringbean, My Lovely Woman 1546
Sylvia’s Death 1548
The Ballad of the Lonely Masturbator 1550
CYNTHIA OZICK (1928– ; United States) 1551
The Shawl 1552
URSULA LE GUIN (1929– ; United States) 1555
The Space Crone 1556
ADRIENNE RICH (1929– ; United States) 1558
Diving into the Wreck 1560
Vesuvius at Home: The Power of Emily Dickinson 1562
Contents xxix
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxix
“It Is the Lesbian in Us . . .” 1581
A Woman Dead in Her Forties 1583
From Twenty-one Love Poems 15871 [Wherever in this city, screens flicker] 158711 [Every peak is a crater] 1587
LORRAINE HANSBERRY (1930–1965; United States) 1589
Library of Women’s Literature: A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
GRACE OGOT (1930– ; Kenya) 1589
Elizabeth 1590
TONI MORRISON (1931– ; United States) 1598
Recitatif 1599
Library of Women’s Literature: Beloved (1987)
Nobel Lecture (December 7, 1993) 1612
ALICE MUNRO (1931– ; Canada) 1617
Dance of the Happy Shades 1618
SYLVIA PLATH (1932–1963; United States, England) 1625
Metaphors 1626
Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices 1627
Daddy 1636
Ariel 1638
Lady Lazarus 1639
Cultural Coordinates: The Pill 1642AUDRE LORDE (1934–1992; United States) 1644
Black Mother Woman 1645
The Woman Thing 1645
How I Became a Poet 1646
CAROL SHIELDS (1935–2003; Canada) 1648
Dying for Love 1649
YASMINE GOONERATNE (1935– ; Sri Lanka, Australia) 1654
The Peace Game 1654
JOY KOGAWA (1935– ; Canada) 1655
From Obasan 1656Chapter 4 [How Naomi’s Parents Got Married] 1656
xxx Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxx
LUCILLE CLIFTON (1936– ; United States) 1659
Admonitions 1660
[being property once myself] 1660
[at last we killed the roaches] 1661
homage to my hips 1661
wishes for sons 1661
poem to my uterus 1662
MARGE PIERCY (1936– ; United States) 1662
To Have Without Holding 1663
My Mother Gives Me Her Recipe 1664
Photograph of My Mother Sitting on the Steps 1665
The First Time I Tasted You 1666
BESSIE HEAD (1937–1986; South Africa, Botswana) 1666
Looking for a Rain God 1667
ANITA DESAI (1937– ; India) 1669
From Fasting, Feasting 1670Chapter 6 [Anamika] 1670
DIANE WAKOSKI (1937– ; United States) 1674
Blue Monday 1674
Overweight Poem 1676
Hummingbird Light 1677
JOYCE CAROL OATES (1938– ; United States) 1678
Nairobi 1679
BAPSI SIDHWA (1938– ; Pakistan, United States) 1684
From Cracking India 1685Ranna’s Story 1685
Library of Women’s Literature: Cracking India (1991)
Cultural Coordinates: Partitioning Women 1694TONI CADE BAMBARA (1939–1995; United States) 1695
Ice 1696
PAULA GUNN ALLEN (1939– ; Laguna: United States) 1700
Where I Come from Is Like This 1701
Contents xxxi
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxxi
MARGARET ATWOOD (1939– ; Canada) 1707
First Neighbours 1708
The Wereman 1709
1837 War in Retrospect 1710
The Double Voice 1710
Murder in the Dark 1711
Library of Women’s Literature: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)
MAXINE HONG KINGSTON (1940– ; United States) 1712
No Name Woman 1713
BHARATI MUKHERJEE (1940– ; India, Canada, United States) 1721
A Wife’s Story 1722
OLIVE SENIOR (1941– ; Jamaica, Canada) 1732
Tears of the Sea 1733
GLORIA ANZALDÚA (1942–2004; United States) 1737
Linguistic Terrorism 1738
From La conciencia de la mestiza / Towards a New Consciousness 1740[A Tolerance for Ambiguity] 1740
Cihuatlyotl, Woman Alone 1742
To live in the Borderlands means you 1743
Canción de la diosa de la noche 1744
AMA ATA AIDOO (1942– ; Ghana) 1747
No Sweetness Here 1748
PAT MORA (1942– ; United States) 1759
Border Town: 1938 1760
Agua negra 1760
La Migra 1762
NANCY MAIRS (1943– ; United States) 1763
From Body in Trouble 1764[My Body] 1764
Cultural Coordinates: Women Writers and Disability 1771PAT PARKER (1944–1989; United States) 1773
For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend 1773
xxxii Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxxii
EAVAN BOLAND (1944– ; Ireland) 1774
Athene’s Song 1775
Menses 1775
Anorexic 1777
Envoi 1778
BUCHI EMECHETA (1944– ; Nigeria) 1779
Library of Women’s Literature: Second Class Citizen (1974)
This New Thing 1780
Cultural Coordinates: Cutting Women 1785MERLE HODGE (1944– ; Trinidad, Grenada) 1786
From Crick Crack, Monkey 1786[Aunt Tantie’s Visit] 1786
ALICE WALKER (1944– ; United States) 1789
Everyday Use 1790
MICHELLE CLIFF (1946– ; Jamaica, United States) 1796
A Hanged Man 1797
MINNIE BRUCE PRATT (1946– ; United States) 1802
Not the End of the Story 1803
Sharp Glass 1803
LORNA GOODISON (1947– ; Jamaica, United States) 1804
On Houses 1805
I Am Becoming My Mother 1806
On Becoming a Tiger 1806
Cultural Coordinates: Sistren Theatre Collective 1808LINDA HOGAN (1947– ; Chickasaw: United States) 1809
Song for My Name 1809
The Grandmother Songs 1810
Sickness 1811
KERI HULME (1947– ; New Zealand: Maori) 1812
The Knife and the Stone 1813
DENISE CHAVEZ (1948– ; United States) 1819
Evening in Paris 1820
Contents xxxiii
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxxiii
NTOZAKE SHANGE (1948– ; United States) 1824
Five 1825
LESLIE MARMON SILKO (1948– ; Laguna: United States) 1827
From Ceremony 1828[Night Swan] 1828[Long time ago] 1832
ZOE WICOMB (1948– ; South Africa, Scotland) 1836
When the Train Comes 1837
Library of Women’s Literature: Playing in the Light (2007)
Cultural Coordinates: Women March against Apartheid 1845
DOROTHY ALLISON (1949– ; United States) 1847
A Question of Class 1847
JESSICA HAGEDORN (1949– ; Philippines, United States) 1852
Motown/Smokey Robinson 1852
JAMAICA KINCAID (1949– ; Antigua, United States) 1853
A Small Place 1855
Library of Women’s Literature: Lucy (1990)
JULIA ALVAREZ (1950– ; Dominican Republic, United States) 1860
I Want to Be Miss América 1861
Cultural Coordinates: Miss America 1866MERLE COLLINS (1950– ; Grenada, United States) 1868
Visiting Yorkshire—Again 1869
When Britain Had Its GREAT 1870
GRACE NICHOLS (1950– ; Guyana, England) 1870
Skanking Englishman between Trains 1871
The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping 1872
Two Old Black Men on a Leicester Square Park Bench 1873
AHDAF SOUEIF (1950– ; Egypt, England) 1873
Returning 1874
MEENA ALEXANDER (1951– ; India, United States) 1882
Grandmother’s Mirror 1883
xxxiv Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xxxiv
No Man’s Land 1886
JOY HARJO (1951– ; Muscogee (Creek): United States) 1887
A Postcolonial Tale 1888
We Must Call a Meeting 1889
Strange Fruit 1889
The Bloodletting 1890
Day of the Dead 1891
The Book of Myths 1892
BELL HOOKS (1952– ; United States) 1893
Homeplace: A Site of Resistance 1894
CHERRÍE MORAGA (1952– ; United States) 1899
Loving on the Run 1900
Loving in the War Years 1902
AMY TAN (1952– ; United States) 1904
From The Joy Luck Club 1905Scar 1905
ABENA BUSIA (1953– ; Ghana, United States) 1909
Freedom Rides Quiz 1909
Altar Call 1910
SARA SULERI (1953– ; Pakistan, United States) 1911
From Meatless Days 1912Excellent Things in Women 1912
SANDRA CISNEROS (1954– ; United States) 1923
Library of Women’s Literature: The House on Mango Street (1983)
My Tocaya 1923
La Fabulosa: A Texas Operetta 1926
Cultural Coordinates: The Virgin of Guadalupe andFeminist Reclaimings 1928
LOUISE ERDRICH (1954– ; Ojibwe: United States) 1930
Saint Marie 1931
HELENA MARIA VIRAMONTES (1954– ; United States) 1940
The Moths 1940
Contents xxxv
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/9/07 1:26 PM Page xxxv
MARILYN MEI LING CHIN (1955– ; China, United States) 1944
How I Got That Name 1945
The Survivor 1947
Beijing Spring 1947
BARBARA KINGSOLVER (1955– ; United States) 1948
From The Poisonwood Bible 1949Ruth May 1949
ALISON BECHDEL (1960– ; United States) 1952
From Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic 1954Chapter 2, A Happy Death 1954
JHUMPA LAHIRI (1967– ; England, United States) 1983
When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine 1984
Library of Women’s Literature: The Namesake (2003)
ZADIE SMITH (1975– ; England) 1994
From White Teeth 1995Chapter 1, The Peculiar Second Marriage of Archie Jones 1995
Acknowledgments 2009
Index 2015
xxxvi Contents
war64024_FM_pi-xxxi.qxd 11/28/07 12:32 PM Page xxxvi