spring

I've been getting settled into the spring semester and my new job as a research assistant for a professor writing on women and sermons in the 17th century. I've been dedicating most of my time to this project to make up for the two weeks I was away in BC. So far I've only been adding to a bibliography of primary sources but I've already learned so much. It's incredible how many women writers were creating such interesting and original texts that so few have been studied. The social and historical contexts of these women's lives are also beyond heartbreaking. The sheer majority of women I've read about either died in childbirth, were left widowed and were denied inheritances and property that were rightfully theirs, or were imprisoned (and often beaten and killed) for preaching in public. This excerpt fromA Biographical Dictionary of English Women Writers, 1580-1720 was especially heart wrenching:

"Margaret Blagge married Godolphin secretly in 1675, after a nine year engagement: she was nervous about marrying because she thought she would die in childbirth, as she did."


... As for my own writing: I've been working on a few riddles but I'm hoping to establish a better schedule in the coming weeks. I also have my thesis proposal to think about... I wanted to have it finished by the end of the summer so I'm slowly making my way through articles and books on the subject!