Date of Award
5-4-2020
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
History
First Advisor
Dr. Jacob Selwood
Second Advisor
Dr. Ian Fletcher
Third Advisor
Dr. J.T. Way
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Nick Wilding
Abstract
Seventeenth-century England witnessed a surge in the population and the movement of bodies in and out of the city of London, resulting in anxiety and distrust. This masculine social anxiety fixated on the female body as an unknowable space uncontrolled by patriarchal authority, despite efforts through legislation. Violent women in early modern England were used as public spectacle after being subjected to surveillance for their failure to perform to their gendered expectations, both revealing the male anxieties prevalent in society and allowing the maintenance of patriarchy. An examination of violent women through legislation, printed material, and court records reveals the ways in which early modern English society enacted a society of surveillance and thus difference. This dissertation examines the deeper social and cultural meanings of violence, its portrayals, and the social legitimization of violence.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/17476043
Recommended Citation
Welch, Heather L. and Welch, Heather, ""Unnatural Cruel Beasts in Women's Shapes": The Female Body in Early Modern England." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2020.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/17476043
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