(Individual writers' pages
updated as needed.)
Below are links that will take you to passages from over 125 women writers. The entries are on women who produced a substantial amount of work before 1700, some or all of which has been translated into modern English. Each entry will tell you about the print sources from which the translated passages are taken; it will also tell you of useful secondary sources and Internet sites, when those are available.
For more details on the kinds of writing you'll find here, on why you might want to read these women, and on how you can find these translations, see "About this site." (You can link to individual writers from there, too.)On this page, the writers are given in chronological order; you may prefer to use an alphabetical listing.
For reviews of the "Other Women's Voices" site, see the following:
The Humbul Humanities Hub (now part of Intute: Arts and Humanities), at the University of Oxford.
The Center for History and New Media, at George Mason University.
========================================================================Enheduanna (later 2300s or early 2200s BCE)
"THAT WHICH HAS BEEN CREATED, NO ONE HAS CREATED."
========================================================================Sappho (c.600 BCE)
"SOMEONE WILL REMEMBER US... EVEN IN ANOTHER TIME."
========================================================================Anyte of Tegea (fl. c.300 BCE)
"THIS PLACE IS SACRED TO THE GODDESS."
========================================================================Theri /"Therigatha" (500s-200s BCE)
"SHE TAUGHT ME THE DOCTRINE...."
========================================================================Ban Zhao /Pan Chao /Cao Dagu (c.48-bef.120 CE)
"OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO BE CIRCUMSPECT!"
========================================================================Perpetua /Vibia Perpetua (d. 203 CE)
"ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CONTEST ITSELF, LET HIM WRITE OF IT WHO WILL"
========================================================================Auvaiyar /Avvaiyar /Avvai (bef. 300 CE)
"...THE SUBTLE TONGUES OF POETS SKILLED IN THE SEARCH FOR GOOD WORDS."
========================================================================Proba /Faltonia Betitia Proba (c.322-c.370)
"THAT I MAY FIND ALL MYSTERIES WITHIN MY POWER TO RELATE."
========================================================================Egeria /Etheria /Aetheria (fl. 380s?)
"LADIES, LIGHT OF MY HEART,... DO NOT FORGET ME."
========================================================================Eudocia /Athenais-Eudocia /Aelia Eudokia (c.400-460)
"I DWELLED IN THE TOWERING CITY OF THE WELL-BORN ATHENIANS."
========================================================================Radegund (520/5-587) & Baudonivia (fl. 600-602)
"DAUGHTERS, I CHOSE YOU."
========================================================================Khansa / al-Khansa /Tumadir bint 'Amr (c.575-c.646)
"AND MANY A RHYME LIKE THE POINT OF A SPEAR, THEY STAY AND WHOEVER SPOKE THEM GOES."
========================================================================Laila Akhyaliyya /Layla al-Akhyaliyyah (died c.704)
"HE WAS HONEY---NO, I SEE A BEEHIVE HIS LIKENESS."
========================================================================Otomo no Sakanoue & Kasa no Iratsume (700s)
"...YOUR THOUGHTS DISHEVELED LIKE YOUR MORNING HAIR."
========================================================================Huneberc of Heidenheim /Hugeburc /Hygeburg (fl. 778-786)
"NO ONE EVER AGAIN SHALL SAY IT IS ALL NONSENSE."
========================================================================Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya /Rabi'ah /Rabi'a Basri (d. 801)
"HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP POUNDING ON AN OPEN DOOR?"
========================================================================Xue Tao /Hsueh T'ao /Sie Thao /Hung-tu (768-831)
"THE URGE TO MAKE POEMS: EVERYONE'S GOT IT. BUT I ALONE... GRASP RICH SUBTLETIES OF SCENES."
========================================================================Yeshe Tsogyal /Ye-ses-mtsho-rgyal (later 700s-800s)
"THIS WILD LADY HAS DONE EVERYTHING."
========================================================================Dhuoda of Septimania /of Uzes (c.806/11-aft.843)
"YOU WILL HAVE LEARNED DOCTORS TO TEACH YOU..., BUT THEY ARE NOT OF EQUAL STATUS WITH ME."
========================================================================Kassia /Kassiane /-ni /Casia /Icasia (c.810-bef.867)
"I HATE SILENCE WHEN IT IS A TIME FOR SPEAKING."
========================================================================Yu Xuanji /Yu Hsuan-chi (c.844-868?)
"MY SILKEN WOMAN'S DRESS OBSCURES MY POETRY."
========================================================================Antal /Andal /Goda /Kotai (mid-800s?)
"I YEARN FOR HIM WHO ONCE MEASURED THE WORLDS"
========================================================================Ono no Komachi (mid-800s)
"IS THIS LOVE REALITY OR A DREAM?"
========================================================================Ise /Lady Ise /Ise no go (died c.939)
"ISE THE DIVER... FEELS HER HOME-SHIP SWEPT AWAY."
========================================================================Hrotsvit /Hrosvith /Hroswitha /Roswitha (d. aft. 973)
"GOD HAS GIVEN ME A SHARP MIND."
========================================================================Michitsuna no haha /Udaisho Michitsuna no haha (c.935-995)
"SHE HAD OCCASION TO LOOK AT THE OLD ROMANCES, AND FOUND THEM MASSES OF THE RANKEST FABRICATION."
========================================================================Senshi Naishinno /Daisaiin Senshi (964-1035)
"HOW I WISH THERE WAS A WAY FOR ALL TO RIDE TOGETHER, WITHOUT DISTINCTIONS."
========================================================================Sei Shonagon (965/967-aft.1010)
"EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE SEEN AND FELT IS INCLUDED."
========================================================================Murasaki Shikibu (973/8-aft.1014)
"WHO WILL READ IT? WHO WILL LIVE FOREVER IN THIS WORLD?"
========================================================================Izumi Shikibu (c.974-aft.1033)
"WILL I ALONE BE LEFT TO TELL THE STORY OF OUR PAST--- DESTINED TO BE NUMBERED WITH OLD TALES OF PAINFUL LOVES?'"
========================================================================Akazome Emon (d. aft.1041)
"THOUGH AN EMPEROR IS, TO BE SURE, AN EMPEROR, SOME OF THEM ARE NOT QUITE WHAT ONE WOULD WISH."
========================================================================Sugawara no Takasue no musume (1008-aft.1064)
"IN THIS COMMONPLACE WORLD OF OURS, I EXPECTED TO STAND OUT AS AN EXCEPTION."
========================================================================Fujiwara no Nagako /Sanuki no Suke (1079-aft.1119)
"I JUST HAD TO RECORD IT SO THAT IT WOULD LIVE ON IN PEOPLE'S MINDS."
========================================================================Li Qingzhao /Li Ch'ing-chao (c.1083-aft.1149)
"I WOULD HAVE BEEN GLAD TO GROW OLD IN SUCH A WORLD."
========================================================================Ava /Frau Ava (-1127?)
"NOW OPEN YOUR INNER EARS!"
========================================================================Anna Comnena /Komnene /Komnena (1083-bef.1156)
"WHENEVER ONE ASSUMES THE ROLE OF HISTORIAN, FRIENDSHIP AND ENMITIES HAVE TO BE FORGOTTEN."
========================================================================Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
"A BLAZING MIND LONGING TO SOAR ABOVE THE CLOUDS."
========================================================================Heloise (d.1163/4)
"I SEEK NO CROWN OF VICTORY--- ENOUGH THAT I KEEP FROM RISK."
========================================================================Sun Bu-er /Sun Pu-erh (c.1119-c.1182)
"THE SPIRIT IS THE SAME AS THE UNIVERSE."
========================================================================Elisabeth of Schonau (1128/9-1164/5)
"ALL THESE THINGS WERE WRITTEN DOWN ACCORDING TO MY NARRATION."
========================================================================Marie de France (later 1100s)
"LISTEN, MY LORDS, TO THE WORDS OF MARIE."
========================================================================Clemence of Barking (later 1100s)
"SO IT IS NECESSARY TO CORRECT IT AND TO MAKE THE TIMES CONFORM TO THE PEOPLE."
========================================================================Herrad of Hohenbourg /Hohenburg /Landsberg (d. aft. 1196)
"MAY THIS BOOK BE USEFUL AND DELIGHTFUL TO YOU."
========================================================================Akka Mahadevi /Mahadeviyakka (1100s)
"TAKE THESE HUSBANDS WHO DIE, DECAY, AND FEED THEM TO YOUR KITCHEN FIRES!"
========================================================================Shikishi Naishinno /Shokushi (d.1201)
"WHETHER I RESENT THE WORLD OR GRIEVE OVER IT I DO NOT KNOW."
========================================================================Daibu /Kenreimon'in Ukyo no Daibu (d. aft.1232)
"WHATEVER I MAY CALL IT---DREAM, ILLUSION, TRAGEDY---NO WORDS CAN POSSIBLY DESCRIBE IT."
========================================================================Shunzei kyo no musume /Shunzeikyo (c.1171-aft.1252)
"WEREN'T MOST OF THE NOVELS WE'VE JUST BEEN TALKING ABOUT WRITTEN BY WOMEN?"
========================================================================Clare of Assisi /Chiara di Offreduccio (1193/4-1253)
"...BELIEVING NOTHING, AGREEING WITH NOTHING THAT WOULD DISSUADE YOU FROM THIS COMMITMENT."
========================================================================Beatrijs of Nazareth /Beatrice /Beatrijs van Tienen (c.1200-1268)
"LOVE MAKES THE SOUL SO BOLD THAT IT NO LONGER FEARS MAN NOR FRIEND, ANGEL OR SAINT OR GOD HIMSELF."
========================================================================Hadewijch of Antwerp /of Brabant /Hadewych (mid-1200s)
"WHETHER I AM WANDERING IN THE COUNTRY OR PUT IN PRISON---HOWEVER IT TURNS OUT, IT IS THE WORK OF LOVE."
========================================================================Mechthild of Magdeburg /Mechtild (c.1210?-c.1282)
"I CANNOT DANCE, LORD, UNLESS YOU LEAD ME."
========================================================================Ben no Naishi (c.1228-aft.1266)
"LEAVES OF WORDS TO BE TRANSMITTED... TO LATER GENERATIONS."
========================================================================Abutsu /Abutsu-ni /Ankamon'in no Shijo (c.1220-aft.1283)
"I HAD FORMED A CONNECTION WITH REMARKABLE MEN."
========================================================================Angela of Foligno (c.1248-1309)
"OF WHAT USE ARE REVELATIONS, VISIONS, FEELINGS OF GOD'S PRESENCE?"
========================================================================Gertrud of Helfta /Gertrude the Great (c.1256-1302)
"I HAVE NEVER FOUND A HUMAN FRIEND TO WHOM I WOULD DARE TELL ALL I KNOW; THE HUMAN HEART IS TOO SMALL TO BEAR IT."
========================================================================Nijo /Nakanoin Masatada no musume (1257/8-aft.1308)
"WHEN I FIND A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE SYMPATHETIC AND WRITE POETRY, I STAY."
========================================================================Marguerite d'Oingt (d.1310)
"NOW IMAGINE HIS GREAT BEAUTY."
========================================================================Marguerite Porete /Porette /Marguerite of Hainaut (d.1310)
"IT WAS HER WISH THAT HER NEIGHBORS WOULD FIND GOD IN HER, THROUGH HER WRITINGS AND HER WORDS."
========================================================================Janabai /Jana Bai / Jani (bef.1270-1350)
"O LORD, YOU BECOME A WOMAN."
========================================================================Margareta Ebner /Margaretha (c.1291-1351)
"I HAD A SISTER, WHOM GOD HAD GIVEN ME FOR CONSOLATION IN BODY AND SOUL."
========================================================================Lalla /Lal Ded /Lalleshwari /Lal Arifa (d. aft.1353)
"I DIDN'T TRUST IT FOR A MOMENT, BUT I DRANK IT ANYWAY, THE WINE OF MY OWN POETRY."
========================================================================Birgitta of Sweden /Birgitta Birgersdotter /Bridget of Sweden (1302/03-1373)
"IT IS GOOD FOR THE BRIDE TO GROW TIRED TOILING ALONGSIDE THE BRIDEGROOM."
========================================================================Julian of Norwich (c.1342-aft.1416)
"BUT ALL WILL BE WELL, AND EVERY KIND OF THING WILL BE WELL."
========================================================================Catherine of Siena /Caterina Benincasa (1347-1380)
"LET THE TRUTH BE YOUR DELIGHT.... PROCLAIM IT..., BUT WITH A CERTAIN CONGENIALITY."
========================================================================Leonor Lopez de Cordoba /Cordova (1362/3-aft.1414)
"ALL THAT IS WRITTEN HERE IS TRUE, FOR I SAW IT AND IT HAPPENED TO ME."
========================================================================Christine de Pizan /Pisan (c.1364-aft.1429)
"NOW I WANT YOU TO BRING FORTH NEW BOOKS WHICH... WILL PRESENT YOUR MEMORY"
========================================================================Bartolomea Riccoboni (c.1369-1440)
"FOLLOW THROUGH ON THIS GOOD BEGINNING."
========================================================================Margery Kempe (c.1373-aft.1439)
"I THINK THAT THE GOSPEL GIVES ME LEAVE TO SPEAK OF GOD."
========================================================================Helene Kottanner /Kottanerin /Kottannerin (c.1400-aft.1458)
"THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE SHE COULD TRUST."
========================================================================Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (1407/8-1471)
"SENSIBLE PEOPLE DON'T TAKE ANY CHANCES."
========================================================================Catherine of Bologna /Caterina Vigri /Vegri (1413-1463)
"I HAVE BEEN MOVED TO WRITE THE PRESENT LITTLE BOOK AS A WARNING AND INSTRUCTION."
========================================================================
Isotta Nogarola (c.1418-1466)"DOES NOT THEIR LEARNING LETTERS WARRANT RESPECT FOR WOMEN?"
========================================================================Teresa de Cartagena (mid-1400s)
"...AN ISLAND WHERE I HAVE LIVED FOR SO MANY YEARS---IF LIFE THIS CAN BE CALLED."
========================================================================Lucrezia Tornabuoni de' Medici (1425-1482)
"BE ALERT, LISTENER, WITH READY INTELLECT."
========================================================================Perchta of Rozmberk /Perchta z Rozmberka /Perchta von Rosenberg (c.1429-1476)
"I HAVE CALLED AND PLEADED FOR HELP,... MY RIGHT AS A CHILD OF ITS FATHER."
========================================================================Margaret Mauteby Paston (c.1420-1484), et al.: Agnes Berry Paston (c.1405-1479), Elizabeth Paston Poynings (1429-1488), Margery Brews Paston (d.1495)
"I WOULD RATHER YOU WERE AT HOME... THAN HAVE A NEW GOWN, EVEN IF IT WERE OF SCARLET."
========================================================================Catherine of Genoa /Caterina Fieschi Adorno (1447-1510)
"NOW I WILL ONCE MORE BE IN CHARGE."
========================================================================Antonia Pulci (c.1452-1501)
"YOU CAN DERIVE MUCH PLEASURE FROM IT AND MUCH FRUIT."
========================================================================Cassandra Fedele (1465-1558)
"I CAN RENDER MYSELF IMMORTAL AND HAPPY IN THIS LIFE."
========================================================================Caritas Pirckheimer /Charitas /Barbara (1467-1532)
"WE WANT TO BE FREE IN SPIRIT, NOT BODY."
========================================================================Laura Cereta /Cereto (1469-1499)
"THEY DENY... THAT ANY WOMAN MIGHT MASTER THE MOST ELEGANT ELEMENTS OF ROMAN ORATORY."
========================================================================Veronica Gambara (1485-1550)
"WAR IS WAGED SO FIERCELY THAT REASON SWIFTLY TAKES HER LEAVE."
========================================================================Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara (1490/92-1547)
"LIKE IVY WHOSE SUPPORTS ARE BURNED AND BROKEN...."
========================================================================Marguerite de Navarre /Marguerite d'Angouleme (1492-1549)
"NOW I OBSERVED THE MAJESTY OF KINGS."
========================================================================Argula von Grumbach (c.1492-1556/57)
"A HUNDRED WOMEN WOULD EMERGE TO WRITE."
========================================================================Mirabai /Meerabai (c.1498-aft.1550)
"IT'S TIME TO TAKE MY SONGS INTO THE STREET."
========================================================================Jeanne de Jussie (1503-1561) & Marie Dentiere (c.1495-1561)
"DO WE HAVE TWO GOSPELS?"
========================================================================Helisenne de Crenne /Marguerite de Briet (d. aft.1552)
"I LIKE MY BOOKS TO BE SHOWN TO COMPETENT PEOPLE."
========================================================================Tullia d'Aragona (c.1510-1556)
"DO YOU THINK THE DESIRE FOR HONOR WAS NOT ALSO GIVEN TO ME?
========================================================================Teresa of Avila /Teresa de Ahumada /Teresa de Jesus (1515-1582)
"WHEN THEY SAY... THAT SOMEONE IS A SAINT, IT'S BOUND TO BE NONSENSE."
========================================================================Isabella Morra /di Morra (1516/20-1545/6)
"I WHO... SPEND MY TIME WITHOUT ANY PRAISE."
========================================================================Louise Labe (1520/22-1566)
"THE TIME HAS NOW COME, MADEMOISELLE."
========================================================================Madeleine Neveu des Roches (c. 1520-1587) & Catherine Fradonnet des Roches (1542-1587)
"A PERFECT FRIENDSHIP WILL NEVER DESTROY LIBERTY."
========================================================================Gaspara Stampa (c.1523-1554)
"LET THIS SUFFICE YOU, THAT IT MAKES YOU WRITE."
========================================================================Gulbadan Begam bint Babur Badshah / Gulbadan Banu Begum (1522/3-1603)
"...AWAY FROM MY MOTHERS, AND MY OWN MOTHER, AND MY SISTERS, AND MY FATHER'S PEOPLE, AND MY BROTHERS."
========================================================================Olympia Fulvia Morata /Olimpia (1526-1555)
"...SO ON FIRE WITH LOVE FOR LEARNING."
========================================================================Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre /Jehanne de Navarre (1528-1572)
"THESE, MADAME, ARE THE... REASONS... I HAVE TAKEN TO ARMS."
========================================================================Veronica Franco (c.1546-1591)
"I RESOLVED TO MAKE A VIRTUE OF MY NEED."
========================================================================Maria de San Jose Salazar (1548-1603)
"BECAUSE A WOMAN HAD BEGUN AND CONTINUED THIS WORK...."
========================================================================Gabrielle de Coignard (c.1550-1586)
"POSTERITY WILL READ MY VERSE."
========================================================================Charlotte de Mornay (1550-1606)
"...TO DESCRIBE THE PILGRIMAGE OF OUR LIVES."
========================================================================Marguerite de Valois /de Navarre /de France /Queen Margot (1553-1615)
"I COULD NOT WISH THE VICTORY OF EITHER PARTY."
========================================================================Moderata Fonte /Modesta Pozzo Zorzi (1555-1592)
"IT'S GOOD FOR US TO LEARN ABOUT THESE THINGS, SO WE CAN LOOK AFTER OURSELVES WITHOUT NEEDING HELP FROM MEN."
========================================================================Isabella Canali Andreini (1562-1604)
"OH, WHAT CAN'T A WOMAN DO?"
========================================================================
Marie le Jars de Gournay (1565-1645)"...TO HAVE WHAT YOU SAY BELIEVED, OR AT LEAST LISTENED TO."
========================================================================Lucrezia Marinella Vacca /Marinelli (1571-1653)
"IF WOMEN... WAKE THEMSELVES FROM THE LONG SLEEP THAT OPPRESSES THEM...."
========================================================================Jeanne Francoise Fremyot, Baronne de Chantal /Jane Frances (1572-1641)
"...WITHOUT THE LEAST DESIRE TO FIND CONSOLATION."
========================================================================Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor (1590?-aft.1647)
"... BECAUSE THERE'S NO ONE ELSE WHO DOES DEFEND WOMEN."
========================================================================Marie de l'Incarnation /Marie Guyart (1599-1672)
"MY SPIRIT... COULD NOT REMAIN SHUT UP THERE."
========================================================================Madeleine de Souvre, Marquise de Sable (1599-1678)
"WE WIN BY BREVITY WHAT WE OFTEN LOSE BY VERBAL EXCESS."
========================================================================Maria Celeste Galilei /Virginia Galilei (1600-1634)
"IF YOU COULD PENETRATE MY HEART AND DESIRE AS YOU PENETRATE THE HEAVENS...."
========================================================================Arcangela Tarabotti /Elena Cassandra Tarabotti (1604-1652)
"...FREE WILL, BESTOWED ON MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE."
========================================================================Anna Maria van Schurman /Schurmann /Schuurman (1607-1678)
"THEY JUDGED NOTHING WORTHY OF... CELEBRATING EXCEPT WHAT WAS RARE IN OUR SEX."
========================================================================
Madeleine de Scudery (1607-1701)"SPEAK WORTHILY OF TRIFLING THINGS AND SIMPLY OF GRAND THINGS."
========================================================================Elisabeth, Princess Palatine /Elisabeth von der Pfalz (1618-1680)
"CIVIL LIFE OFTEN LEAVES ONE DEPENDENT ON PERSONS OF SO LITTLE REASON."
========================================================================Francoise Bertaut de Motteville (c.1621-1689)
"THERE IS NOTHING MORE NATURAL TO MAN THAN MORAL FRAILTY AND INCONSISTENCY."
========================================================================Leonora Christina Ulfeldt /Eleanora Christine Christiandatter (1621-1698)
"SHE WOULD NOT GIVE UP...; SHE HAD COMMITTED NO CRIME."
========================================================================
Jacqueline Pascal /Jacqueline de Sainte Euphemie (1625-1661)"SINCE THE BISHOPS ARE SHOWING THE COURAGE OF GIRLS...."
========================================================================Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sevigne (1626-1696)
"IT IS A LINK IN A CONVERSATION THAT TELLS ME ALL I WAS MISSING."
========================================================================Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, Duchesse de Montpensier /Grande Mademoiselle (1627-1693)
"...THAT FULL AND DEAR LIBERTY THAT I LOVE SO MUCH."
========================================================================Bahina Bai /Bahinabai /Bahini (c. 1628-c.1700)
"ONE SHOULD INVESTIGATE THESE THINGS."
========================================================================Marie Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette /LaFayette /Lafayette (1634-1693)
"WE DEVISED THE PLAN OF OUR STORY."
========================================================================Francoise d'Aubigne, Madame Scarron, Marquise de Maintenon (1635-1719)
"IF I WERE TO FOLLOW MY OWN INCLINATIONS...."
========================================================================Zeb-un-Nissa /Zebunnisa /Makhfi (1638-1702)
"BEHOLD LOVE'S PATH---IT SEEMS SO LONG."
========================================================================Marie Catherine Desjardins /Madame de Villedieu (1640?-1683)
"LOVE IS THE FORCE BEHIND ALL THE OTHER HUMAN PASSIONS."
========================================================================Gluckel von Hameln /Glueckel /Glikl bas Judah Leib (1646-1724)
"I NEVER SPARED MYSELF..., I RAN ABOUT THE CITY THE LIVELONG DAY."
========================================================================Juana Ines de la Cruz /Juana Ramirez de Asbaje (1648/51-1695)
"IT SEEMED FAINT-HEARTED MEEKLY TO YIELD... BEFORE THE BATTLE STARTED."
========================================================================Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon /Madame Guyon (1648-1717)
"I... WISHED... THAT HE WOULD NOT JUDGE BY HIS REASON, BUT BY HIS HEART."
========================================================================Marie Catherine le Jumelle de Barneville, Baronne d'Aulnoy (1650/51-1705)
"THOUGH I BELIEVED NOT A WORD... YET I WAS PLEASED IN THE RECITAL OF THIS STORY."
========================================================================Elisabeth Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orleans /Liselotte von der Pfalz (1652-1722)
"THOSE WHO COME AFTER US WILL... THINK THEY ARE JUST FAIRYTALES."
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Maintained by Dorothy Disse
Comments to voices@infionline.netThis page updated 12-28-07