More handpicked essays just for you.
The importance of wealth versus education
Women's status in the renaissance
Women's status in the renaissance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The importance of wealth versus education
In the Renaissance Women were Rich,Poor, and had Children., women of the upper classes were either daughters,wives or widows. Between the Poor and the Rich women, the rich were living their lives under strict and controlled rules, unlike the peasant women they had more freedom, they didn’t have strict rules to live under(Being a renaissance-woman). The female roles were more defined in the upper-classes, than they were in the peasant classes. Women that were going to have children had a 10 percent chance that their child was going to die at the age of 2. For the women it wasn’t fun, there were no drugs involved in the process(Being a renaissance-woman).It was the chances were that a child would die at childbirth then getting a education. A
The Renaissance was beneficial in many ways, from its enlightening ideas, to its art. However, there are many debates about how The Renaissance changed the lives women. Did women benefit from The Renaissance?
In the traditional political history of Italy the people outside of the ruling class of the society were rarely studied. Only with the use of social history did the issues of class and gender begin to be debated by scholars. Numerous recent articles have done a great job of analysing particularly men of high status. In this paper I will look at the lower classes of Renaissance Florence. More specifically, I will center my focus on the lives of women during this era, how they were treated and viewed by people of other classes and how women were viewed and treated by men.
In view of a notable female writer in the early modern Europe, the life of low born were not only trivial and insignificant to the higher classes, but also had to experience the unavoidable hardships and impossible tasks that were forced onto them. However, the poverty level of peasant are much worse than courtiers in 17th century. To sum up, the life of contemporaries of the third estate was quite difficult, as they constantly face the threat of epidemic disease, the shortage of food, abuse from authority, warfare, the lack of moral laws, equality laws and gender laws. The entire system of three estate puts the low born at a huge disadvantage, and deliberately forced them to be at the bottom of the hierarchy with slight chance to move
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood. The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time. Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
It was a difficult life for women in the 14th century. The women were not valued as much as men. They did not receive much respect and did not have many rights. They were treated like objects by men. Women were not educated as they weren’t allowed to go to school. Three of the main things women in the 14th century did not have were the right to own property, the right to take part in a job, and respect.
In the 1800’s a women had to choose a mate or a partner, who she would give everything to. Her rights and property were lost to her upon marriage, and everything, if she had received anything from their fathers then it would belong to her husband. Basically, the men controlled the women after they handed over their lives to living and caring for them alone. Even after the marriage if a woman so wished to get a divorce she would be denied that right, and could be even in danger of being arrested if she was to run away. Each women of different class had different roles they were divided or distinguished as Upper class, Lower class, and under class. The women of the upper class who were entitled to an inheritance, was usually from their father’s wealth. But as it is
During the Victorian Era women struggled to fulfill their desires and men encountered women to get only what was necessary for the household, trying to escape from responsibility they go onto the direction that their impulse takes them, however not for long, after a dream of having what they long for they still have to face reality of being a wife and mother. Kate uses imagery to indicate how women struggle to abandon their needs followed by an isolated and dreamy tone.
During the period of time when Shakespeare's’ plays were produced, the division between gender roles of men and women were greatly distinguished. In the Renaissance Period women were portrayed by society as objects of desire however their ruler, Queen Elizabeth, seemed to defied this objectification. Many believed that she should be wed and produced an heir and yet by refusing this traditional custom, knowing that as soon as she bore a son she would lose her power to control England, Queen Elizabeth unintentionally shattered the illusion of the female roles in society. This is perhaps the inspiration and influence for the female characters of Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice. Women were oppressed and objectified because of the strictures that society has imposed upon them however Portia, Nerissa, and Jessica found ways to escape those societal constraints, which were illustrated in the cross-dressing, their transformation, opportunities and empowerment.
Dunn, Catherine M. "The Changing Image of Woman in Renaissance Society and Literature." What Manner of Woman. Ed. Marlene Springer. New York: NYU Press, 1977. 15-38.
Women were a nurturing part of the household and therefore it was seen as their job to take care of the children. For example, the editor of the McGuffey’s states, “the middle-class...
A huge obstacle that women only in the near past have been able to conquer is their status in society. Women today have the freedom to take up any profession they desire, attend any school they desire, and most importantly marry anyone they desire. In the 16th-18th centuries, the time of the Renaissance, rebirth, and discovery of grand new worlds, women possessed the status of children in many ways; women were considered minors dependent on their fathers until marriage when that dependency transferred to their husbands. They could not own land, they could not be educated, and they most importantly could not marry whom they chose. The poor could possibly marry for love, but the new wealthy merchant class and the nobility married for political reasons: to increase the fortunes of husbands, for women to enter nobility, or vise versa. This reasoning affected every facet of women’s lives. One of the most important women it affected was Queen Elizabeth I. However, it affected her in a less direct way, as she did not have a father arranging a marriage for her.
The definition of Renaissance women is fundamentally important in William Shakespeare's play Othello. One of the major causes of Othello's tragedy is his belief that Desdemona is not chaste. According to the men of the Renaissance, chastity, silence, and obedience are three attributes that define Renaissance women. Although Othello takes place during the Renaissance, the women in the play, Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia, defy traditional norms by lacking at least one of the major attributes defining women; Bianca's lack of chastity is clearly displayed when she unlawfully sleeps with Cassio; Desdemona's lack of silence is clearly displayed when she constantly urges Othello to give Cassio's position back. However, in the last two acts, Emilia displays the strongest challenge to the definition of Renaissance women as silent, chaste, and obedient, mainly to defend Desdemona.
The women in Shakespeare’s plays are portrayed in a stereotypical manner which parallels the views of women in the Jacobean era. During this period, according to Leach , “gender inequality must be viewed in the Elizabethan and Jacobean context.” This shows that a woman’s social priority in that period was “to be feminine, delicate and caring so that they could take care of a family and bear children”, stated by Bigter , whilst men were meant to be “strong, powerful and ambitious”. Desdem...
In the Middle Ages you were born in a class of people which you stood in for your entire life. Girls and women life was based on whether they were rich and where they lived. In Medieval times, girls and women had less opportunities than men. Women were not allowed to have jobs outside of their home, allowed to get married without their parents consent and couldn't own a business even if they were to ask the King, Lord, or Noble. In Middle Ages women could not inherit any land from their parents if their male siblings were still alive. Weather women lived in a town or village that did not change how much they had to do. If you were a women in the Middle Ages living in the village you had to do most of the work men did on land however, they were paid less. In Medieval town women thought it was hard to develope trades so, most of the work they completed had to do with making clothes. As you can tell women had a hard life. Romantic Love in the Middle Ages was not as important in todays society. Marriage was always arranged by the females parents whether they were Nobles or Peasants. Marriage ceremonies depended on the wealth of the bride and the groom. Although many women got pregnant during their time married, having babies was dangerous because some people were poor therefore they couldn't afford childcare.
As in Shakespeare’s England, Verona was a very patriarchal society, and women had little place there, but to tend to the home. Men must bear and fight for their family name, while women bear the children and see to the men. Kahn points out that "Verona’s daughters have, in effect, no adoles...