Consider the Oyster Seller: Street Hawkers and Gendered Stereotypes in Early Modern London

Abstract

Abstract Oyster sellers were ubiquitous on London’s streets and as characters in high and low culture. This article contrasts the varied, sophisticated working life of mostly female hawkers with their sexualized representation in the multimedia genre of Cries. It connects these divergent stories to bigger narratives of socio-economic change in London, gender relations, and changing ways of imagining the emergent metropolis. While previous work focused on hawkers’ marginality and read the Cries uncritically, this article shows how humble food sellers kept the city fed, became symbolic of cultural change, and may have been affected by their representations.