Course info

The aim of this module is to examine the roles and relations of women and men in early modern England between 1550 and 1750. Religion, law and culture represented relations between the sexes in rigid and hierarchical ways: men were to rule and women were to be obedient to them. But the reality was often very different for this was very far from a traditional society. The practical realities of economic life and the disruptions of Civil War and Reformation meant that relations between women and men varied and adapted in a period of great cultural, political, economic, social, and religious change. This module aims to explore the flexibility and dynamics of experience through examination of a range of primary sources including diaries, pamphlets, ballads, court records of crime and marital disputes, as well as sermons and advice books. You will develop a grasp of how evidence may be used to explore the lives of ordinary women and men in early modern England whose voices, until recently, have been hidden from the historical record. The module will also focus on how gender can be used as a category to understand how society worked. Specific topics considered include the English Civil War, The Reformation, the body, marriage, sexuality, motherhood, work and the use of social spaces such as taverns and coffee houses in eighteenth century towns and cities