Women's Writing: Past and Present

The Cambridge Contexts in Literature series is designed for advanced level students of English literature. Each title in the series has the quality, content and level endorsed by the OCR examination board. However, the texts provide the background and focus suitable for any examination board at advanced level. The literary, historical and social contexts are explored in each title and students are encouraged to investigate varying interpretations of the text. Women's Writing: Past and Present covers background issues such as the difficulties facing women writers and looks at the experiences of women writers in past centuries, going on to explore literary criticism and topics such as 'women and madness'. Extracts include the diverse styles of Sylvia Plath, Kate Chopin, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Ban Zhao and Toni Morrison. Critical approaches are investigated, covering reactions during different eras and techniques for rereading specific writers and texts.