Using these ballads, together with court records of women tried for infanticide, Symonds makes fascinating points about the shifting meaning of womanhood in the eighteenth century, the roles of politically astute lawyers in that shift, and the significance of ballad singing as a response. She also discusses the political implications of Walter Scott's infanticide novel, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, for women and for the ballad heroine. While some historians have argued that women's history has little to do with the watershed events of textbook history, Symonds convincingly shows us that the democratic and economic revolutions of the late eighteenth century were just as momentous for women as for men, even if their effects on women were quite different.
Using these ballads, together with court records of women tried for infanticide, Symonds makes fascinating points about the shifting meaning of womanhood in the eighteenth century, the roles of politically astute lawyers in that shift, and the significance of ballad singing as a response. She also discusses the political implications of Walter Scott's infanticide novel, The Heart of Mid-Lothian, for women and for the ballad heroine. While some historians have argued that women's history has little to do with the watershed events of textbook history, Symonds convincingly shows us that the democratic and economic revolutions of the late eighteenth century were just as momentous for women as for men, even if their effects on women were quite different.
Weep Not for Me: Women, Ballads, and Infanticide in Early Modern Scotland
312Weep Not for Me: Women, Ballads, and Infanticide in Early Modern Scotland
312Paperback(New Edition)
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780271024981 |
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Publisher: | Penn State University Press |
Publication date: | 09/15/1997 |
Edition description: | New Edition |
Pages: | 312 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.86(d) |