Abstract

This paper utilizes sermons penned by English and Scottish clergymen between approximately 1577 and 1697 to demonstrate how the religious rhetoric of the time sought to diminish women's identities and experiences in the household and beyond. Common themes in the included sermons are sins such as vanity, pride, and lust often being attributed to women alone, and the sin of adultery often being feminized. There is a heavy emphasis on marriage and women's duty of subservience and obedience to their husbands found throughout the sources as well, which is explored extensively. The language of the sermons is then compared with sources describing the lives and actions of women who defied these expectations– such as Queen Elizabeth I and the women of the Leveller movement– to emphasize how women found ways to rebel against religious oppression, even when it was omnipresent and relentless in nature.

How to Cite:

Stringer, L., (2026) “Religion, Rhetoric, and Restriction: Women in Early Modern British Sermons”, Iowa Historical Review 12(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/2373-1842.33773