ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the relations and affections which flourish or languish in so-called "second" worlds, shadowy regions or "indistinguished spaces" of women's will and wit. It focuses on the customary practices and habits of the household or family to which Gloucester alludes as well as on the opportunities for resistance or negotiation which such practices allowed women. The book explores Lear's phrase in terms of physical or philosophical settings typically assigned to women, the intimate spaces of bedchambers or marriages or the dark interiors of the body. It also explores what can happen between individuals in the predominantly female worlds of privacy and domesticity. The "indistinguished space" of women often provides intellectual stimulation and common ground, a profound sense of unity and coherent female identity.
