full title A Medieval Life: Cecilia Penifader of Brigstock c. 1295–1344
author Judith M. Bennett
type of work Biography
genre Nonfiction; biography; historical narrative; individual history;
medieval history; English history; women’s history
language English
time and place written 1997–1999, North Carolina
date of first publication 1999
publisher McGraw-Hill College
narrator Judith M. Bennett
point of view The narrator speaks in the third person, attempting to give a complex
and detail-oriented overview of the society in which Cecilia lives. The narrator
often refers to Cecilia in order to speculate on how she might have acted in a
certain historical situation.
tone Speculative; informative; balanced; straightforward
tense Past
setting (time) The late thirteenth and early to mid-fourteenth centuries
setting (place) Brigstock, a rustic and wooded manor located in central
England
protagonist Cecilia Penifader
major conflict Cecilia attempts to survive and prosper as a
singlewoman in medieval England.
themes The universality of women’s experiences; the disenfranchisement of all
women; social class as destiny
motifs Family; those who work, those who pray, those who fight; the number
three
symbols Surnames; the Great Famine, the Black Death
