The “Wyll and Testament” of Isabella Whitney

Travitsky, Betty S.

doi:10.1111/j.1475-6757.1980.tb01411.x

Cited by 8 publications

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“…The presence of girls in Whitney's poem likewise reinforces the term's association with the lower classes. Scholarship on the woman who published the fi rst original volume of poetry in English has been attuned to Whitney's status as a discharged servant as far back as Betty Travitsky's 1980 article that introduced many literary critics to Whitney's work. 76 Although she is identifi ed as a 'gentlewoman' on the title page, the content of the volume makes it clear that she is out of work and publishing her poems because she needs the money, being 'whole in body, and in mind, / but very weake in Purse' (lines 1-2).…”

Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scholarship on the woman who published the fi rst original volume of poetry in English has been attuned to Whitney's status as a discharged servant as far back as Betty Travitsky's 1980 article that introduced many literary critics to Whitney's work. 76 Although she is identifi ed as a 'gentlewoman' on the title page, the content of the volume makes it clear that she is out of work and publishing her poems because she needs the money, being 'whole in body, and in mind, / but very weake in Purse' (lines 1-2). 77 Patricia Phillipy has explored the way that Whitney's poetic description of service speaks to the experience of country women who migrated to London for work and who were compellable to serve yet faced uncertainties with regard to employment.…”

Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Sisters

Higginbotham¹

2013

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This book owes a tremendous debt to the friends and colleagues who have supported me over the past ten years. My work on girlhood began with a question in Phyllis Rackin's Shakespeare seminar at the University of Pennsylvania, and if it weren't for her unfailing support as a mentor and advisor, this project never would have come to fruition. It is also better and stronger for the feedback I received from Peter Stallybrass and Rebecca Bushnell, who have always been incredibly generous with their comments and time. As the project has developed, I have been fortunate to have the advice of my fellow scholars at

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Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Sisters

Higginbotham¹

2013

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“…Whitney's poem takes the form of a verbal tour of the city of London, using her undoubted experience and gifts of imagination and wit, under the guidance of an inventive ‘memory’ (l. 294). In writing her ‘Wyll and Testament’, she subverts several traditions at the same time: the language and assumptions of courtship; the contemptus mundi genre of poems taking leave of human life in ‘this vale so vile’ (l. 313); the tradition of topographic poetry which was generally rural in setting, and the discourse of legal testaments (Travitsky, 1980; Beilin, 1987: 98). Her ironic tone undercuts the pomp and pride of the city, challenging from the ground the stereotypical gendering of roles such as poet, chronicler, lover, citizen and gatekeeper.…”

Section: Isabella Whitney's Sweet Nosegay (1573)mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Ah Famous Citie’: Women, Writing, and Early Modern London

Wilcox¹

2010

Feminist Review

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This article explores aspects of the textual relationship between women and early modern London by examining three verbal ‘snapshots’ of the city in works either written by women or focusing on women in their urban environment. The first text, Isabella Whitney's ‘Wyll and Testament’ (1573), addresses London from a rural perspective, treating the city as a fickle male to whom she wants to hand back all his treasures. The poem constructs a vivid and ironic social topography, giving a glimpse of the roles of men and women in the Tudor city. The second text is by Mary Carleton, the roguish Restoration figure who defended her apparently ‘counterfeit’ life in the prose of The Case of Madam Mary Carleton (1663). Carleton's London is a place of unwanted seduction and sexual intimidation, highlighting a gendered moral geography even while the memoir itself titillates the reader with the account of her bizarre experiences. Finally, in a coda to the discussions of Whitney and Carleton, early eighteenth-century London is viewed through Jonathan Swift's satirical mock-pastorals of squalid urban life, in which female identity, like the city itself, is a site of violence, disgust and deception. Together, these textual representations of women and early modern London indicate the complex interactions of gender, literature and the early modern city. The analysis of the texts also suggests the significance of the ironic voice as a quintessentially urban literary mode, the prevalence of the idea of woman as a commodified topographical site, and the function of metaphors of courtship or marriage as indicators of the paradoxical attractions of the city.

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Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

The girlhood of Shakespeare's sisters: gender transgression, adolescence

2013

Choice Reviews Online

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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library Over the years the 'noble girls' from my writing groups have provided a wonderful support system, and I want to thank Elizabeth Williamson, Jane Dagenhardt, Jessica Rosenfeld, Jamie Taylor and Marissa Greenberg for reading through so many of my early drafts. I am also deeply indebted to the work of Will Fisher, whose work on boyhood served as a lightning rod for my project, and to Kate Chedgzoy, whose suggestions for research helped open new avenues of exploration and enabled me to write the book I wanted to write. A number of other scholars have also offered wonderful recommendations over the years, including Contents

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The “Wyll and Testament” of Isabella Whitney

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Sisters

The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Sisters

‘Ah Famous Citie’: Women, Writing, and Early Modern London

The girlhood of Shakespeare's sisters: gender transgression, adolescence

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