The "phantom heroine"―in particular the fantasy of her resurrection through sex with a living man―is one of the most striking features of traditional Chinese literature. Even today the hypersexual female ghost continues to be a source of fascination in East Asian media, much like the sexually predatory vampire in American and European movies, TV, and novels. But while vampires can be of either gender, erotic Chinese ghosts are almost exclusively female. The significance of this gender asymmetry in Chinese literary history is the subject of Judith Zeitlin’s elegantly written and meticulously researched new book.
Zeitlin’s study centers on the seventeenth century, one of the most interesting and creative periods of Chinese literature and politically one of the most traumatic, witnessing the overthrow of the Ming, the Manchu conquest, and the subsequent founding of the Qing. Drawing on fiction, drama, poetry, medical cases, and visual culture, the author departs from more traditional literary studies, which tend to focus on a single genre or author. Ranging widely across disciplines, she integrates detailed analyses of great literary works with insights drawn from the history of medicine, art history, comparative literature, anthropology, religion, and performance studies.
The Phantom Heroine probes the complex literary and cultural roots of the Chinese ghost tradition. Zeitlin is the first to address its most remarkable feature: the phenomenon of verse attributed to phantom writers―that is, authors actually reputed to be spirits of the deceased. She also makes the case for the importance of lyric poetry in developing a ghostly aesthetics and image code. Most strikingly, Zeitlin shows that the representation of female ghosts, far from being a marginal preoccupation, expresses cultural concerns of central importance.

One of the most exciting recent developments in the study of Chinese literature has been the rediscovery of an extremely rich and diverse tradition of women's writing of the imperial period (221 BCE -1911 CE). Many of these writings are of considerable literary quality. Others provide us with moving insights into the lives and feelings of a surprisingly diverse group of women living in Confucian China, a society that perhaps more than any other is known for its patriarchal tradition. Because of the burgeoning interest in the study of both pre-modern and modern women in China, several scholarly books, articles, and even anthologies of women's poetry have been published in the last two decades. This anthology differs from previous works by offering a glimpse of women's writings not only in poetry but in other genres as well, including essays and letters, drama, religious writing, and narrative fiction. The authors have presented the selections within their respective biographical and historical contexts. This comprehensive approach helps to clarify traditional Chinese ideas on the nature and function of literature as well as on the role of the woman writer.

This anthology of Chinese women’s poetry in translation brings together representative selections from the work of some 130 poets from the Han dynasty to the early twentieth century. To measure the development of Chinese women’s poetry, one must take into account not only the poems but also the prose writings―prefaces, biographies, theoretical tracts―that framed them and attempted to shape women’s writing as a distinct category of literature. To this end, the anthology contains an extended section of criticism by and about women writers.
These poets include empresses, imperial concubines, courtesans, grandmothers, recluses, Buddhist nuns, widows, painters, farm wives, revolutionaries, and adolescent girls thought to be incarnate immortals. Some women wrote out of isolation and despair, finding in words a mastery that otherwise eluded them. Others were recruited into poetry by family members, friends, or sympathetic male advocates. Some dwelt on intimate family matters and cast their poems as addresses to husbands and sons at large in the wide world of men’s affairs. Each woman had her own reasons for poetry and her own ways of appropriating, and often changing, the conventions of both men’s and women’s verse.
The primary purpose of this anthology is to put before the English-speaking reader evidence of the poetic talent that flourished, against all odds, among women in premodern China. It is also designed to spur reflection among specialists in Chinese poetry, inspiring new perspectives on both the Chinese poetic tradition and the canon of female poets within that tradition. This partial history both connects with and departs from the established patterns for women’s writing in the West, thus complementing current discussions of “feminine writing.”

書是一項「改寫歷史」的工作，或說是改寫五四以來一部舊的「婦女受封建制度壓迫史」，重探明清兩代在社會╱政治╱經濟上的劇烈變化與性別關係的強烈互動關係。而近年來不斷挑戰成見、建立新婦女史的努力中，本書正是其中的佼佼之作。
「Precious Records」一詞，是作者直接譯自清代完顏惲珠《蘭閨寶錄》這本最早由婦女編寫的婦女史之書名，因為這被視為盛清婦女典範意識的代表；另一方面，這一書名又何妨解讀為現代婦女史學者珍重處理各種婦女史料的心情──沉埋已久的史料重新「浮出歷史地表」，對整體歷史觀產生重要影響，豈能不視為珍寶？
作者以整體的視野，掃描了影響十八世紀婦女生活的各個層面，舉凡政策、經濟、社會、文化、以及個人心理等皆包括在內；故婦女由為人女、為人妻到為人母的角色轉換、經濟發展與婦女勞動價值及生存率的關係、文化價值與德言容工的修養等等，在在屬於本書鳥瞰的範圍。在方法學上，作者嘗試結合史學與其他學科，因此大量利用婦女的文學作品，尤其是詩作。其次，她更有意識地將婦女置於十八世紀歷史的中心地位，揭露男性中心史觀的不足之處，由女性角度出發，探索新的歷史議題。

本片根据丽贝卡·米勒的小说改编。
布蕾克·莱弗利饰演少女时期的皮帕·李。
丽贝卡的丈夫影帝丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯以布景师的身份参与了这部影片的拍摄。
在五十岁的时候，皮帕·李（罗宾·莱特·潘 Robin Wright Penn 饰）已经和一名很有才气的出版商人结婚了30年，有两个事业成功的双胞胎儿子，还有一个她很敬重的朋友兼邻居。但是，丈夫决定退休后要离开纽约搬到郊区过田园生活，而且皮帕·李发现丈夫还与一个比她年轻得多的女人有染，在生活遭到打击的情况下，她回忆起自己的过往，发现了自身的真正需求，以相当大胆方式揭露了丈夫的另一面，也给自己找到了生活的另一条出路……

生活在沉闷与琐碎家务中的家庭主妇赛尔玛（吉娜·戴维斯 饰）与在某间咖啡厅做女侍应生的闺中密友路易丝（苏珊·萨兰登 饰）厌倦了平凡的生活与工作，结伴一起外出旅游散心。路上，在某家酒吧外的停车厂， 赛尔玛险遭无名男子强暴，幸好路易丝及时赶到，拔枪将该男子射杀。惊慌失措的两人掉头逃亡，自此踏上不归路，过程中两人性格均有了很重大的改变。
该片被认为是向男权社会发出抗争的女性主义电影代表作。

美丽的富家女芬尼（Abbie Cornish 艾比·考尼什 饰）沉醉于时尚之中，亲手为自己设计并制作衣物是她最大的乐趣。偶然的一次机会，她看到了隔壁穷小子济慈（本·威士肖 Ben Whishaw 饰）并不畅销的诗集，她被那些字句吸引，于是便寻找一切机会接近那个忧郁的男人。在济慈的影响下，芬尼开始学习和欣赏诗歌，在相处过程中两人深陷情网。然而这段感情从开始就遭到各种反对，在聚少离多的日子里，一对恋人通过书信传达彼此心中的爱恋。归来的济慈送给芬尼订情的戒指，并送给她一首题为《明亮的星》的诗，两人在各种各样反对的声音中继续坚守着这份爱情。不久，济慈的新作终于问世，可是此时他却患上了严重的肺病……
本片导演是曾凭《钢琴课》斩获金棕榈大奖的简·坎皮恩（Jane Campion）。本片入选了第62届戛纳国际电影节主竞赛单元，并提名第82届奥斯卡最佳服装设计奖。