Early modern women’s letter writing viewed through the lenses of portraiture and dramatic text by Deborah Richards

This essay will explore the epistolary activity of early modern women through the media of portraiture and dramatic text. It will use two artefacts: the portrait of Mary Neville, Lady Dacre by Hans Eworth, and the text from William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, featuring the forged letter from Maria to Malvolio. Through these two artefacts this piece will explore the themes of reliability and autonomy in early modern women’s epistolary activity and their influencing factors, namely the mechanical process of writing, and the sending, delivery and reading of letters.