Renaissance Women
During the Renaissance, women were not seen as educational or independent. The women of the Renaissance were the man’s shadow. They were regarded more for their delicacy and beauty rather than their intelligence. Their main role in life during that time was to marry, have children, and to take care of the household. Despite these facts, some women were able to break out of these statistics. I believe that these women of that time should be honored simply for the fact that they were ones who made a name for themselves, and not just by their looks. This is significant being that the fight for equality has been a long and treacherous one and some are not aware that it began way back in those times.
To our knowledge women were not then known to be intelligent- they held the work of their homes and nothing else. I will first explain how women were seen by men and what they were entirely valued for. After I have given the facts on that, I will explain the path to equality- how they came about doing so. Which was lead in part by women distributing their own literary works. I will give examples of works of the women that gave insight on how tough it really was for them and how they shouldn’t have been looked down upon.
In the text, “The Humanistic Tradition”, we are given the idea that women were only good for house tasks and were solely known for their beauty. Directly quoted, “Renaissance women’s occupation remained limited to service tasks, such as midwifery and inn keeping.” Once a woman married in the Renaissance, their opportunities would become limited because the man was considered superior. Women were looked so down upon it was believed that women were too slow and delicate to uphold the responsibility of ra...
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...kept quiet simply because of the superiority of men- unlike Lucrieta and Christine. The fact that women were kept in their homes to clean confirms that they did not do much to change this stereotype. Since the Renaissance, much has changed, thankfully. I cannot imagine how strenuous it must have been for women to constantly live under the shadow of someone who did not create them- men.
Work Cited
De Pisan, Christine. "The Book of the City of Ladies." Hanover College. N.p.. Web. 29 Oct 2012. .
Deslauriers, Marguerite, "Lucrezia Marinella", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = .
Fiero, Gloria. The Humanisitc Tradition. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 34-39. Print.
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.
The Renaissance may have been a time filled with the revolutionary concepts but the people of this time still regarded woman as mere property. This milieu formed the Taming of the Shrew, a play about an outspoken Katherina who gets tamed into a “good wife” by Petruchio. “She [Good Wife] is the eye of wariness, the hand of labour, and the heart of love, a companion of kindness, a Mistress of Passion, an exercise of Patience, and an example of experience. “ (Good and Badde)The methods used by Petruchio, to tame her such as starving Kat, are not seen as revolt...
Both Castiglione’s The Courtier and Christine de Pizan’s The Treasure of the City of Ladies advise women in the proper way to behave and conduct their lives, but do so aimed towards both a different audience and in different ways. The Treasure of the City of Ladies takes the approach of appealing to a broader range of women and addressing a wider array of subjects. In contrast, The Courtier is aimed mainly towards men and occasionally towards women, and always those of high status. The reasons behind these differences trace back not just to the execution of the books but to the different genders of the authors and the motivating factors behind the writing of them. When comparing both works to one another, The Treasure
During this time period women were not respected at all and were belittled by all med in their lives. Even though men don’t appreciate what women they still did as they were told. In particular, “Women have an astoundingly long list of responsibilities and duties – th...
Women in society were always put as not being equal to men. During the Renaissance, women were inferior to men; women in different classes had different roles. Low class women were expected to be housewives and take care of everything to do with the house. Working class women were expected to work for their husbands and help them run their business. They would work along side with their husbands and then go home and take care of the household. Upper class women may have had servants and workers working for them but the women were still expected to take care of the house hold.
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?
Her chief arguing points and evidence relate to the constriction of female sexuality in comparison to male sexuality; women’s economic and political roles; women’s access to power, agency, and land; the cultural roles of women in shaping their society; and, finally, contemporary ideology about women. For her, the change in privacy and public life in the Renaissance escalated the modern division of the sexes, thus firmly making the woman into a beautiful
In the book, Giovanni and Lusanna, by Gene Bucker, he discusses the scandalous actions of a Florentine woman taking a wealthy high status man to court over the legality of their marriage. Published in 1988, the book explains the legal action taken for and against Lusanna and Giovanni, the social affects placed on both persons throughout their trial, and the roles of both men and women during the time. From the long and complicated trial, it can be inferred that women’s places within Florentine society were limited compared to their male counterparts and that women’s affairs should remain in the home. In this paper, I will examine the legal and societal place of women in Florentine society during the Renaissance. Here, I will argue that women were the “merchandise” of humanity and their main objective was to produce sons.
During the Renaissance, women were not expected or allowed to work outside of their homes. Breastfeeding was even considered a job for lower class women (Victoria and Albert Museum).The Renaissance took place in Italy from 1300-1600. Angela Merici was one of the most influential role models for women during this time. Although women were often restricted by their gender roles, Angela Merici breaks with Renaissance conventions because she stood out in her leadership and goals for women and their education.
Cloud, Amanda. Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance. n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2009. < http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/shrew/acloud.htm >.
The achievement of gender equality is one of the most important movements for advancement of society. In the High Middle Ages, however, it was even more challenging to bring such sensitive debate. Christine de Pizan, a highly educated and religious woman, chose an unusual pathway for a woman in her era that she became a writer to support her family. Christine’s work, “The Treasure of the City of Ladies,” could be seen as feminist because she offered a broad view of how an ideal artisan’s wife should be.
Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structure. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society. Writing based on their own experiences, had it not been for the works of Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and similar feminist authors of their time, we may not have seen a reform movement to improve gender roles in a culture in which women had been overshadowed by men.
Society at this time was dominated by men, making women live extremely challenging and limited lives. The position and status of a woman ultimately depended on that of her husband. She was not given many rights unless it was allowed by her husband. Women had to withstand arranged marriages and there were times they encountered abuse from their spouse. What many people do not see in this society is that women longed for their own empowerment and they wanted to be given the opportunity to create their own success in life without being overshadowed by their husbands. Women were supposed to be seen and not heard. They did not carry a voice in this society. This was a way of life for women "the relations of the sexes were restructured to one of
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 play, The Merchant of Venice drastically altered the perception of women during the time as Shakespeare makes women during the Italian Renaissance appear independent and intellectual, such as the beautiful Portia and the young Jessica. This play shows that women are not only beautiful people to look at but also powerful and intelligent individuals. The characteristics of the women in this play show the possibilities of equality between men and