Customer Reviews

The Weaker Vessel - Women's Lot in Seventeenth Century England

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is exactly the kind of women's history book that we need. Fraser's writing style is perfect for her subject, the lives of women in 17th-century England. She covers various aspects of women's lives: Political, domestic, social, professional, spiritual. We meet many remarkable women, such as Rachel, Lady Russell, who fought hard to save her husband William from execution; Catherine Sedley, the witty and strong-minded mistress of James II; Elizabeth Barry, beloved actress. Fraser includes all sorts of trivia without detracting from her main theme, an accomplishment in itself. Will she write more books like this? I hope so.

I love Antonia Fraser's writing, but this is an extremely hard book to get through. The book relies upon a knowledge of 17th Century English history and so I had to delay reading it since the first time I picked it up my knowledge of the English Civil War was sketchy. I appreciated it more after reading other biographies but still took a while to get through. Not her best.

A very good book, well written and very interesting. It provides the reader with information about Seventeenth Century women from every class, noble and peasants alike. Every girl should read it. It will give them much more self-consciousness than 30 feminist treatises!

It relates to the women in 17th Century England and the times they endured, torn down by the "stereotypical" views of what women of today think. Women of the 17th Century carried a role within the society in which they were able to stand up, to be a woman. They were able to lift their heads despite what the men had said of the time period. Women were able to gain custody of their children, marry the man they love and become much more of a customary woman that what had been perceived. Antonia Fraser's historically written book justifies the idea that women truly played a role within the society that was not forfeited. The question she had asked, "were there women in the 17th century?" Yes, yes there were, and Antonia Fraser proved it. Historically, in a fictional manner in a non-fiction piece.

A non-fiction history of women's lives in 17th century England--many "to the manor born." Based on letters and historical records, "The Weaker Vessel" was impossible to put down. Antonia Fraser makes history come alive.

Excellent. I wish there were more books that give such detail and are so readable and articulate. I have enjoyed many of Antonia Fraser's books and this is one of my favorites. I recommend it to friends often.

The book arrived before I expected it. It was intact and appeared clean. A cursory examination revealed no torn or "dog eared" pages (though I must admit to being more interested in the content of the pages than the appearance of the pages).

I had read only a few pages when the back "slid" off and the book began falling apart page by page. The glue apparently is dry and ineffective. The book will continue to fall apart page by page until book repairs are made or until I take it to be repaired. It is not usable or readable as is and attempting to puruse page content is unenjoyable at best. I have never experienced a paperback falling apart in this manner. One or two of my old, old paperbacks (some are 35-40 years old) have come apart at sections of the book but never page-by-page as this book has come apart. Whether this is attributable to the seller is the judgment of the reader of this review...