Preface
This book examines the way the English Civil War influenced the production of female-authored drama in the seventeenth century. It is written from a feminist historicist position and argues that the Civil War had a profound influence on women’s drama in this period, and the study makes the connections between war and the creation of the plays. In the course of the work, it is shown that the plays echo the insecurities and uncertainties of the period; it suggests that the war also provided many opportunities for these writers to articulate the violent drama which was continually unfolding. By close examination of representative primary texts, it establishes the symbiotic relationship between war and women’s drama in the Early Modern Period.
In 1642 England was plunged into a bitter and bloody Civil War, which was to change the lives of men and women forever. The two sides, the Parliamentarians and the Royalists, went to war after negotiations to resolve their differences broke down completely. When the men went off to war, the women were left to manage their husbands’ affairs and to look after their properties.