Royalist Women Writers

Surveying the period from the 1640s to the 1660s, this entry engages the writings of key Royalist women writers such as Elizabeth Brackley (née Cavendish), Jane Cavendish, Margaret Cavendish, Katherine Philips, and Hester Pulter. It traces how recent research has deepened our understanding of the ways in which their work intersects with specific aspects of Royalist politics, literature, and culture. Manuscript circulation and coterie literary production emerge as salient factors here, as do the interactions these writers have both with their male counterparts and with other women writers whose political affiliations appear opposed to Royalism. In view of this, the entry concludes by advocating the need for critical approaches which continue to develop a nuanced sense of the identifications of the poets in question.