Ester Sowernam

Ester Sowernam was an English author whose itrue dentity remains unknown. Her pen name comes from Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible, who defended her people against Haman. Sowernam is also the antithesis of Joseph Swetnam’s last name (sweet/sour). She was the second of three women to respond to Swetnam’s book The Arraignment of Women[1] in her pamphlet, Ester Hath Hanged Haman;[2] or An Answer to a Lewd Pamphlet, Entitled The Arraignment of Women in response to The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward and Unconstant Men, and Husbands (1617).

In Ester Hath Hanged Haman Sowernam finds that Swetnam has incorrectly stated that the Bible is the source of the statement that women are a necessary evil and finds that the true source is in Euripides' Medea. She uses secular and religious arguments to refute Swetnam’s accusations. She also uses Latin phrases, references to events of antiquity, to the Bible, and to law to prove that all women are capable of mastering these subjects.

The only clue to Sowernam’s identity is the description on title page, "neither Maide, Wife, nor Widdowe, yet really all, and therefore experienced to defend all." Her use of numerous classic allusions, Latin phrases, legal jargon, and biblical references imply she was well educated.

References
  1. Swetnam, Joseph (1707). The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Forward, and Unconstant Women. London: Printed for B. Deacon. OCLC 225469697.
  2. "Ester Hath Hanged Haman". Longman anthology of British literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Longman, 2002.Damrosch, David (2003). The Longman Anthology of British Literature. New York: Longman. pp. 1511–1514. OCLC 764458374.
  • [1] (includes excerpt)
  • Susan Gushee O'Malley (ed.), 1996, The Early Modern Englishwoman: A Facsimile Library of Essential Works, Part 1: Printed Writings, 1500–1640, Volume 4, Defences of Women: Jane Anger, Rachel Speght, Ester Sowernam, and Constantia Munda, Scolar Press, 1996[2] (complete text of Protection)
  • "Worthy women", New York Times, Thursday, 8 January 1987.[3]
  • "In the Battle Of the Sexes, This Word Is a Weapon", New York Times, 25 July 1999[4]
  1. Ferguson, Moira (1985). First feminists: British women writers, 1578-1799. Bloomington; Old Westbury, New York: Indiana University Press ; Feminist Press. ISBN 978-0-253-32213-5. OCLC 11234077.
  2. Crane, Mary T. (1998). Woods, Susanne; Sowernam, Ester; Travitsky, Betty S.; Cullen, Patrick; Cary, Elizabeth; Falkland, Lady; Ferguson, Margaret W.; Weller, Barry; Roth, Mary; Hageman, Elizabeth; Munda, Constantia (eds.). "Women and the Early Modern Canon: Recent Editions of Works by English Women, 1500-1660". Renaissance Quarterly. 51 (3): 942–956. doi:10.2307/2901752. ISSN 0034-4338.
  3. "Worthy Women". The New York Times. 8 January 1987. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. Brockman, Elin Schoen (25 July 1999). "In the Battle Of the Sexes, This Word Is a Weapon". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
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