1. The Wife's Resentment by Delarivier Manley
... engages with 18th-century notions of female identity, sexuality, and criminality, using a subtle mixture of counter-arguments to successfully flip the early conventions on their heads. Through her (very appropriately named) heroine Violenta, Manley examines the lack of options and loss of power women of the 18th century ... not a measure of how truly virtuous a woman is, but rather was an important negotiation tool in securing a husband, getting paid off in a sense by said husband's wealth, and cementing a woman's societal status as a "proper" woman. The follow through of this exchange ...
- Word Count: 1986
- Approx Pages: 8
- Grade Level: Graduate