Includes bibliographical references (pages 256-263) and indexes.
Contents:
Introduction -- Part I. Exemplary conversion narratives. Lady Mary Carey -- Elizabeth Major -- Gertrude More -- Part II. Advising on body and spirit. Elizabeth Clinton, Countess of Lincoln -- Brilliana, Lady Harley -- 'Eliza' -- An anonymous gentlewoman -- Part III. Conversion and cure. Lady Elizabeth Delaval -- Katherine Sutton -- Hannah Allen.
Summary:
"This anthology makes accessible to readers ten little-known and under-studied works by seventeenth-century women (edited from manuscript and print) that explore the relationship between spiritual and physical health in the period. Providing a detailed and engaging introduction to the issues confronted when studying women's writing from this century, the anthology also examines female interpretations of illness, exploring beliefs that toothache and miscarriage could be God's punishments, but also, paradoxically, that such terrible suffering could be understood as proof that a believer was eternally beloved. Many of the extracts in the anthology present illness as an important part of women's conversion, confirming their religious beliefs, but some women interpreted bodily dysfunction as the result of the Devil's temptations, in some cases leading them to practise starvation and attempt suicide."--Page 4 of cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.