From Eve to Dawn, A History of Women in the World, Volume II: The Masculine Mystique: From Feudalism to the French Revolution

Overview

In this second volume of her compelling History of Women Marilyn French investigates the role of women in society from feudal times up to the French Revolution.

Editorial Reviews

This second of four volumes, moves quickly from feudalism to the French revolution. Firmly rooted in more modern history, novelist and scholar French (The Women's Room) writes less theoretically and more concretely than in volume 1. Beautifully sourced and referenced, the book shows, for instance, that in the 1400s Protestant and Catholic theologians transformed marriage from a private arrangement into a complex public ceremony that granted men more power. Women came to have less and less say in when and whom they would wed. Discussing the colonization of Africa, French illustrates how traditional, more egalitarian African gender roles were altered under European property-based, Christian social structures. French also begins to focus on how female sexuality was interpreted by a male-dominated culture. Marie Antoinette, for example, was convicted and executed not only for supporting her husband but for sexually corrupting the dauphin and thus the body politic. Filled with fascinating detail and powerful arguments, this second volume of French's massive and valuable work is an example of scholarship and clear vision. (May)
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Author Information

Bio of Marilyn French

Writer and feminist activist Marilyn French was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 21, 1929. She studied philosophy and English literature at Hofstra College, earning a bachelor's degree in 1951 and a master's in 1964. Before earning her doctorate from Harvard University, she taught English at Hofstra from 1964 to 1968. She was an assistant professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross from 1972 to 1976. She wrote numerous books throughout her lifetime including The Women's Room (1977), The War against Women (1992), and Season in Hell: A Memoir (1998). She died of heart failure on May 2, 2009 at the age of 79.

Bio of Margaret Atwood

Born November 18, 1939, in Ottawa, Canada, Margaret Atwood spent her early years in the northern Quebec wilderness. Settling in Toronto in 1946, she continued to spend summers in the northern woods. This experience provided much of the thematic material for her verse. Atwood began her writing career as a poet, short story writer, cartoonist, and reviewer for her high school paper. She attended Victoria College, University of Toronto, from 1957-1961. She received her A. M. at Radcliff College of Harvard University in 1962. Atwood's first book of verse, Double Persephone, was published in 1961 and was awarded the E. J. Pratt Medal. She has published numerous books of poetry, novels, story collections, critical work, juvenile work, and radio and teleplays. Many of her novels focus on women's issues. Atwood lectured in English Literature at University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Sir George Williams University, Montreal; and York University, Toronto. She served as writer in residence at University of Toronto; University of Alabama; New York University; and Macquarie University, North Rye, Australia. Awards for her poetry and fiction include the Governor General's Award in 1966 for The Circle Game and in 1986 for The Handmaid's Tale. The Handmaid's Tale was also filmed in 1990 and short-listed for the Booker Prize, as was Cat's Eye in 1989.

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Additional Info

Imprint

The Feminist Press at CUNY

Filesize

6.21 MB

Number of Pages

336

eBook ISBN

9781558616219