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Recommended: woman in renaissance
Suzanne G. Cusick, who considers herself a speicialist in the life and works of Francesca Caccini, argues that Francesca was a proto-feminist and the music she composed for the Medici court contributed to the career of the Grand Duchess Christine de Lorraine of Tuscany. She therefore claims that through her works, Caccini encourages the sexuality and political aims of women in the early seventeenth century.1
I support Cusick's argument that Caccini was a proto-feminist who, through her works for the Medici court, supported the rights of women, specifically, through her first and most recognized opera, La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina. In this opera, which is recognized as the first opera composed by a woman, Caccini illustrates a feminist approach to her composition, and makes musical statements about gender that support and reflect the joint reign of Christine and her daughter-in-law, Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria. Not only are the characters in the opera portraying strong and capable women, but also the music composed for the characters demonstrates the differences between men and women through musical elements, such as the usage of sharps and flats. Because of works such as these, Caccini plays a major role for the female gender in the early seventeenth century.
An Introduction to Proto-feminism
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...
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...tivating for the advancement of women, without realizing they were doing so. She also claims that the term "feminist" changes over time, to become appropriate for how one would like to apply it.
Taruskin, R., & Taruskin, R. (2010). Music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This is the second volume of Richard Taruskin's historical work, and it highlights composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He examines the progression of different styles and eras of music.
Upham, A. H. (1913). English "femmes savantes" at the end of the seventeenth century. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 12(2), 262-276.
This journal highlights advances women made in the seventeenth century. Upham goes into great detail about certain leaders in the advancement of women such as Catherine Trotter, Mary Pix, and Aphra Behn.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1980)9: 708-709
John Dowland (1563-1626) was a composer of Renaissance England and considered one of the most prolific and well-known composers of English lute song. A composer and accomplished lutenist, he is probably the most well traveled English composer of his time. Through his travels he was exposed to the musical elements of his Italian, French and German contemporaries. He developed his own musical language, in which he created a unique style for the lute song. As a composer, he focused on the development of melodic material and was able to elegantly blend words and music with a wide range of emotion and technique. For the purpose of this document we will focus on the influence of his Italian travels. John Dowland’s use of chromaticism in his lute songs as can be directly associated with such as “All ye whom love or fortune.” In these pieces, we can see the influence on this genre through his travels to Italy and encounters with such composers as Marenzio.
The term feminist is seen with a negative connotation because people use it as an insult against women in an effort to make them seem irrational and unfair, but in reality it is the exact opposite of that. Feminism is defined as the “belief in or advocacy of women’s social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.” (Feminism). There is no reason that there should be a negative connotation to this belief or participation in advancing this belief, yet there is. This battle and struggle for equal rights has been going on for a very long time, but it really took off in the 1920s. The 19th amendment and The New Woman really helps to show how quickly women and their rights progressed in the United States. Many
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.
Anthony, James R., H. Wiley Hitchcock, Edward Higginbottom, Graham Sadler, Albert Cohen. “French Baroque Masters.” The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians. W.W. Norton and Company, 1986. p. 1-63
Kamien, Roger. "Part VI: The Romantic Period." Music: An Appreciation. 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. 257-350. Print.
The Renaissance: the era of going back to move forward. With the unusual time period of the Renaissance came an opportunity for many unique authors to bring forth new perspectives. The Book of The City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan is an excellent example of the diversity of The Renaissance. Pizan’s book is “both a historical treatise on women and a defense of women” (Brophy, Cole, Robertson, Safley, & Symes 366). This offers a perspective on women by a woman as well as insight into the times.
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.
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
Arnold, Denis, ed. The New Oxford Companion to Music. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1983.
Heritage of Music: Volume II The Romantic Era (Heritage of Music). New York: Oxford UP, USA, 1992. Print.
Rosow, L 2009, Opera in Paris from Campra to Rameau, The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music, Simon Keefe, ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
According to Webster’s dictionary, the definition of feminism is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of sexes. One might think that the stereotypical feminist might be a woman with hairy armpits complaining about irrational
In the first chapter it deals with the contemporary issues of gender. The dissertation title is: the different voices for women in English Renaissance poetry. The notion of gender relates to the fixed gender roles of that period. This assignment mainly deals with the issue of how gender roles are different among male and female poets. In addition, to narrow the research only four Elizabethan poets, who were specialised in religious poetry. Poets such as John Donne, George Herbert, Mary Sidney Herbert and Aemelia Lanyer. The reason for choosing these poets is because their work sometimes portrays women in a negative and positive in their religious poetry. This assignment tries to achieve to see the various voices for women in Elizabethan religious poetry.