The Formidable Widow: Comparing the Representations and Life Accounts of Widows in 17th Century England.

The status and degree of agency of widows have changed along with societal perceptions of them throughout the centuries. Widows in 17th century England were afforded greater legal rights than the average contemporary woman, and yet their status as widows made them subject to a wide degree of stereotypes within popular forms of media at the time. Studies on the lives of these women have been limited to mainly legal rights, sexuality, literature studies and case studies of their day to day experiences. This paper examines specific perceptions of widows within contemporary forms of media and compares them to case studies of the lived experiences of widows. This examination takes place in order to determine if a dichotomy between the ideas of how a widow would live and act within her status of legal power matched up with the actual lived experiences of these women.