Alice Sutcliffe

Alice Sutcliffe (fl. 16241634), born Alice Woodhouse or Woodhows, was an English religious writer. Her only known literary work, Meditations of Man's Mortalitie, or, A Way to True Blessednesse, was first published in 1633.

Life Little is known about Sutcliffe's life. Her father was Thomas Woodhouse (or Woodhows), of Kimberley, Norfolk. Alice married John Sutcliffe, a Yorkshire landowner and nephew of Matthew Sutcliffe. As John became Groom of the Privy Chamber to Charles I and had been a squire to James I, Alice was likely at Charles' court around that period, although she may also have been at the court of James. John was associated with George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (Katherine's husband) and his faction. Its second edition was prefaced with appreciations from Ben Jonson, George Wither, and Thomas May. Maynard suggests that these poems were probably intended to boost Sutcliffe's reputation at court;

Her Meditations includes six meditations in prose followed by "Of Our Losse by Adam, and Our Gayne by Christ", a poem in 88 sestets.

As its title suggests, the Meditations is concerned with mortality: Patricia Demers notes its "sheer abundance of images of transience"; Longfellow suggests a comparison with Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) by Emilia Lanier, as Sutcliffe and Lanier both apparently seek to elevate their social status through the written word.

Walker argues that, by publishing her Meditations, Sutcliffe took on a "heavy burden of defense" in the public eye, and accordingly needed to embrace patriarchal tropes in her work to avoid popular censure.