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The Widows' Might : Widowhood and Gender in Early British America / Vivian Bruce Conger.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : New York University Press, [2009]Copyright date: ©2009Description: 1 online resourceContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780814716748
  • 9780814772966
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 306.88/3097309032 22
LOC classification:
  • HQ1058.5.U5 C657 2009eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Summary: In early American society, one's identity was determined in large part by gender. The ways in which men and women engaged with their communities were generally not equal: married women fell under the legal control of their husbands, who handled all negotiations with the outside world, as well as many domestic interactions. The death of a husband enabled women to transcend this strict gender divide. Yet, as a widow, a woman occupied a third, liminal gender in early America, performing an unusual mix of male and female roles in both public and private life.With shrewd analysis of widows' wills as well as prescriptive literature, court appearances, newspaper advertisements, and letters, The Widows' Might explores how widows were portrayed in early American culture, and how widows themselves responded to their unique role. Using a comparative approach, Vivian Bruce Conger deftly analyzes how widows in colonial Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Maryland navigated their domestic, legal, economic, and community roles in early American society.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780814772966

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In early American society, one's identity was determined in large part by gender. The ways in which men and women engaged with their communities were generally not equal: married women fell under the legal control of their husbands, who handled all negotiations with the outside world, as well as many domestic interactions. The death of a husband enabled women to transcend this strict gender divide. Yet, as a widow, a woman occupied a third, liminal gender in early America, performing an unusual mix of male and female roles in both public and private life.With shrewd analysis of widows' wills as well as prescriptive literature, court appearances, newspaper advertisements, and letters, The Widows' Might explores how widows were portrayed in early American culture, and how widows themselves responded to their unique role. Using a comparative approach, Vivian Bruce Conger deftly analyzes how widows in colonial Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Maryland navigated their domestic, legal, economic, and community roles in early American society.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Nov 2023)