Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls (2012)
Historian Dr Lucy Worsley immerses herself in the world of Restoration England, exploring the captivating lives of the women of the period.
Seasons & Episode
In the first episode, Dr Lucy Worsley investigates the lives of women at the top - the king's mistresses at the royal court.
Lucy Worsley explores the ordinary as well as the extraordinary lives of women in the home. This was an age when respectable women were defined by their marital status as maids, wives or widows.
Lucy Worsley explores the lives of some of the most remarkable women of the age, including writers, actresses, travellers and scientists. Against a backdrop of religious and political turmoil, the rise of print culture, the rapid growth of London, the burgeoning scientific revolution and the country's flourishing trading empire, she meets a host of female mavericks who took advantage of the extraordinary changes afoot to challenge the traditional male bastions of society. Women like Nell Gwyn, the most famous of a new generation of actresses; Aphra Behn, the first professional female writer; and Christian Davies, who disguised herself as a man to fight as a soldier - all of them gained notoriety and celebrity, challenging the inequalities of the age. As Lucy discovers, these women's attitudes, ambitions and achievements were surprisingly modern.
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