Throwing light on the medieval female voice - 'Women's Writing in Middle English' part of the revised Longman Annotated Texts series

Price: 12.99 each Publisher: Longman

The Middle Ages - a time of arbitrary royal power, a wealthy transnational Church, and religious controversy. Not a time, perhaps, we associate with the emergence of women's writing.

Nowadays in most parts of the world, there is no question of a woman's right to express her ideas or experiences, in writing or otherwise. But in the Middle Ages most women's opinions counted for very little, and writing was a luxury available to relatively few laymen, let alone their wives and daughters

As society changes, so does writing A new annotated anthology from the relaunched Annotated Texts series - 'Women's Writing in Middle English' - throws new light on the women writers in the Middle Ages and allows us to overhear and eavesdrop on the medieval female voice, which does not always say what we expect. For in a society that usually sought to ensure women knew their place, a handful of women took up their pen to challenge or evade those who would silence them.

Women visionaries such as Bridget of Sweden and Julian of Norwich re-imagined basic theological concepts, such as the Incarnation and the Trinity, in light of their personal experience of the Divine. But everyday life can be just as interesting, and 'Women's Writing in Middle English' also features a range of domestic texts from less known women.

These domestic texts offer useful insights into the everyday lives of medieval women contrasting with the more pious texts of the anthology. They include 'The Duties of a Cellaress of Barking Abbey' (essentially a treatise on household management and mass catering), letters from the Paston women, women's petitions to the King, and widow's wills - disposing of their personal property as death drew near.

'Women's Writing in Middle English' provides a comprehensive and accessible collection of writing by women. The new collection includes, as before, texts from well known authors such as Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich, as well as recently discovered visionary and devotional pieces and domestic texts. The range of texts on offer creates a fascinating time-capsule representing the lives of women, in a time we can only imagine.

About the Longman Annotated Texts Series Revised Editions
In the early 1990s series editors, Charlotte Brewer, Danny Karlin and Henry Woudhuysen, each respected and renowned experts in their respective literary fields, felt there were distinct gaps within the literature available to Literature students.

Key authors and texts were in desperate need of good usable editions in a market swamped with dry and often intimidating titles. Together they created a series that was intelligent, informed and most importantly useful - the Longman Annotated Texts

Contemporary critics recognise now, more than ever, the importance of textual transmission and the historical and cultural environment.

'Longman Annotated Texts' have been revisited and reworked. Bringing in-depth analysis into the themes and context of the anthologies, the revised editions still maintain the accessibility of the original series.

All the books feature an intelligent and informative introduction, written by experts in the field, providing context, key themes and points of discussion. Each individual text is accompanied by on-the-page annotations and explanatory glossary. Allowing readers to fully engage with the text and understand the significant social impacts of the time it was written in.

Students can now, not only access the current research and thinking, but also have a whole new historical and cultural world opened up for them through the intelligent, engaging and accessible commentary.



Revised titles in the Longman Annotated Texts Series include:

'Women's Writing in Middle English (Second Edition)' ed. by Alexandra Barratt (March 2010)

'Women Writers in Renaissance England: An Annotated Anthology (Second Edition)' ed. by Randall Martin (March 2010)

'Victorian Women Poets: An Annotated Anthology (Second Edition)' ed. by Virginia Blain (March 2010)