The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, 1500-1800 [Paperback]

Olwen Hufton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 1998

How did women in 16th century western Europe cope with the consequences of being considered inherently sinful--as well as being legally and economically subordinate to their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons? What might become of a woman unable to raise a dowry? What were the difficulties faced by spinsters, single mothers, and widows? In this brilliant investigation into the lives of women from all social strata, Hufton leads us from poor-house to palazzo, from cradle to grave, illuminating what it meant to be female in western Europe during the years 1500 to 1800.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The great insight of social history is that the record of the lives of Great Men offers a skewed vision of human experience. Similarly women's history seeks to address the unbalanced written record of humanity. Olwen Hufton, the author of several previous studies concerned with women and the history of ideas, has crafted a descriptive history of the lives of a wide variety of women over the 300-year period from 1500 to 1800. Her work is neither an act of prescription nor a narrative written as a means to empowerment. Rather, the details testify to the inequality of women's lives. Hufton seeks no single representative woman whose story conveys the experience of women writ large, but instead offers appropriately complicated interpretations of the diverse women she discusses. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Combining meticulous scholarship and elegant prose, this immensely rewarding history restores women to their key role in the birth of modern Europe. Defined by family status and limited job potential, condemned as lustful sinners or born hysterics by Church authorities and male doctors, ostracized and persecuted as witches, women nevertheless confounded patriarchal strictures and stereotypes. They farmed, midwived, joined urban workshops, sold goods in markets and on quays, worked at home in cottage industry, ran day-schools for children of working parents. Women in England, France, Germany and Holland took part in bread riots, political protests, rebellions, religious riots. Many women went to court seeking separation, divorce, protection from (or the incarceration of) abusive or drunken spouses. Drawing on women's diaries and memoirs, medical and theological tracts, advice manuals and legal documents, Hufton has unearthed a wealth of information on marriage, divorce, parenting, the Inquisition (between one-third and half of its victims in Spain and Portugal were women), infanticide, rape, prostitution, women writers and religious leaders. She traces the roots of modern feminism from Renaissance Venice, where nun Arcangela Tarabotti attacked the dowry system and men's greed, to the radical women's groups of the French Revolution and English polemicist Mary Wollstonecraft's fiery appeals for women's rights. Illustrated.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679768181
• ISBN-13: 978-0679768180
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.3 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,391,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A huge subject in an easy to read format, May 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, 1500-1800 (Hardcover)

The period 1500 - 1800 is marked with great social and political upheaval. Olwen Hufton has taken on a monumental task in trying to show, not only the various types of women within this period (rural, urban, old, young, wives, widows, spinsters) but also how their lives changed as society and politics changed (renaissance, industrial revolution, religous oppression). The result is an easy to read and entertaining book that gives a general picture of the women of Western Europe (using various surveys and censuses) as well as concentrating on specific areas to give a human face to the statistics (personal accounts, diaries). The extensive notes and bibliography make it usuful for those who wish to study more about this period.

An informative and entertaining read

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of the lives of women in the past, January 10, 2001

By 

Lesley West (St James, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, 1500-1800 (Paperback)

If you want to thank your lucky stars for the things that are available to us in modern times, read this book. It is an excellent scholarly overview of the lives and times in the period it covers, but as well it is a fascinating book for anyone who enjoys reading about times past.

Each chapter addresses an area that was of interest to women of the times, and remain of interest today - health, cooking etc, and they are so complete in addressing the issues that they read like small essays on their own.

This is a really enjoyable book, and not just for its scholarly value.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent view of history, February 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, 1500-1800 (Paperback)

A history course in a University should be created around this book! So might insightful information about the day-to-day existence of people during this period in history. An incredible amount of information is provided in an easy-to-read format by the author. A must read for anyone interested in the histoy of women throughout the ages.