The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot in Seventeenth-century England [Paperback]

Antonia Fraser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1989

A winner of the Wofson Prize for History. This book describes a woman's lot in 17th-century England in an age when women had no rights or independence, when effective contraception was unknown and when marriage and childbirth dominated their lives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Drawing from a wondrously deep well of diaries, letters, and papers from 17th-century England, the gifted historian Antonia Fraser gives the image of the "softer sex" a drubbing, plunging readers into the lives of "heiresses and dairy maids, holy women and prostitutes, criminals and educators, widows and witches, midwives and mothers, heroines, courtesans, prophetesses, businesswomen, ladies of the court, and that new breed, the actress." Prophetess Jane Hawkins, called "a witty crafty baggage" by one angry bishop, got around the ironclad law forbidding women to preach by claiming inspiration from God, while Catholic Mary Ward risked her neck repeatedly to found a string of convents and schools for girls on the European continent. Although several good wives of London beat the Lord Mayor in 1649 for his part in trying to arrest five members of Parliament, it's certainly true that most Englishwomen of the time were hemmed in by the whims and fears of men. Wealthy girls were routinely used as chips to bolster family fortunes through marriage, and any old, poor woman unfortunate enough to have "a furred brow, a hairy lip, a squint eye, a squeaking voice or a scolding tongue" lived under suspicion of witchcraft, wrote one contemporary observer. In Fraser's sure hands and supple prose, memorable and execrable historic moments spring to life. --Francesca Coltrera --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

"An almost encyclopedic chronicle of women in 17th century England...wives, warriors, heiresses, preachers... alive with anecdote after anecdote." - New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Mandarin (October 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749301066
• ISBN-13: 978-0749301064
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,208,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We need more history books like this!, January 7, 2007

By 

Keaton Fan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weaker Vessel (Hardcover)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but a hard read, October 7, 2007

By 

Wandering Colorado Girl (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weaker Vessel (Women in History) (Paperback)

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.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worth reading, June 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Weaker Vessel (Paperback)

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!