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Isabella Whitney

Born

Coole Pilate, Cheshire, England.

Genre

Poetry

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Isabella Whitney (late 1540s-after 1580) was born sometime in the late 1540s in Coole Pilate, Cheshire, England. She came from a reformist family which allowed the daughters as well as sons access to a certain degree of humanist education. She had a brother, Geoffrey Whitney, who wrote A Choice of Emblems in 1586. From what we can gather from A Sweet Nosegay Whitney also had a brother-in-law and three sisters, though their identities are not certain. Unlike many of the other women writers of the sixteenth century, Isabella Whitney did not come from a noble family. Rather, she was of the middle class and lived on meager finances. This can be seen in A Sweet Nosegay, where she states that she is "whole in body, and in mind, / but very weak in Isabella Whitney (late 1540s-after 1580) was born sometime in the late 1540s in Coole Pilate, Cheshire, England. She came from a reformist family which allowed the daughters as well as sons access to a certain degree of humanist education. She had a brother, Geoffrey Whitney, who wrote A Choice of Emblems in 1586. From what we can gather from A Sweet Nosegay Whitney also had a brother-in-law and three sisters, though their identities are not certain. Unlike many of the other women writers of the sixteenth century, Isabella Whitney did not come from a noble family. Rather, she was of the middle class and lived on meager finances. This can be seen in A Sweet Nosegay, where she states that she is "whole in body, and in mind, / but very weak in purse". Isabella left Cheshire at an early age to work in London as a servant. While there, she wrote multiple works demonstrating an acute awareness of public taste. This awareness, combined with a sharp satirical tone allowed her to become one of the first professional women writers in Europe. She was also the first woman to write a collection of original poetry, and is thought to be the first professional female poet in England.

According to most critics, Isabella Whitney’s works contained a certain degree of autobiographical material. This can be seen in two of her connected poems: A Communication Which the Author had to London before she Made Her Will and The Manner of Her Will, and What She Left to London and to All Those in it, of her Departing where the writer is not only lacking in finances, but also spends the majority her time amongst "the poor, the imprisoned, and the insane", otherwise known as the commonwealth of London. Her most innovative poems were her verse epistles, many of which were addressed to female relatives. She addressed her poem "Will and Testament" to the city of London, mocking it as a heartless friend, greedy and lacking charity. These works were written in ballad metre and contained both witty and animated descriptions of everyday life. Judging from these popular inclusions, it is likely that the reason for the publishing of her works was simply to supplement her scanty income.

Isabella Whitney pioneered her field of women poets. She published her poetry in a time when it was not customary for a woman, especially one not of the aristocracy, to do so. In addition, her material contained controversial issues such as class-consciousness and political commentary as well as witty satire, and was made available to the upper and the middle class. Whitney’s two best known works are The copy of a letter, lately written in meeter, by a yonge gentilwoman: to her vnconstant louer written in (1567?), and A sweet nosgay, or pleasant posye contayning a hundred and ten phylosophicall flowers written in 1578. ...more

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Isabella Whitney’s books

Average rating: 3.65 · 147 ratings · 14 reviews · 11 distinct works • Similar authors

	Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney and Amelia Lanyer: Renaissance Women Poets by Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney, Aemilia Lanyer 3.58 avg rating — 110 ratings — published 2001 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Will and Testament 3.35 avg rating — 20 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poetry by English Women: Elizabethan to Victorian by R.E. Pritchard (Editor), Elizabeth I (Contributor), Aphra Behn (Contributor) 3.92 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1990 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The copy of a letter: Lately written in meeter by a yonge gentilwoman to her unconstant lover 4.17 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A sweet nosgay, or pleasant posye: Contayning a hundred and ten phylosophical flowers 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Floures of Philosophie, With Pleasures of Poetrie Annexed to Them by Hugh Plat, Isabella Whitney it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1982 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selections from Amelia Lanier/Isabella Whitney by Amelia Lanier, Isabella Whitney it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poems by a Sixteenth-Century Gentlewoman, Maid, and Servant (Volume 102) (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series) by Isabella Whitney, Shannon Miller (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney and Amelia 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Renaissance Women Poets by Aemilia Lanyer, Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Isabella Whitney (?)

“Seek not each man to please, for that
is more than God bids do:
Please thou the best, and neuer care,
what wicked say thereto.”
― Isabella Whitney, A sweet nosgay, or pleasant posye: Contayning a hundred and ten phylosophical flowers

tags: care-free, don-t-care, people-pleasing, poetry

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