Female Oppression Of The Renaissance Essay

Women were also expected to maintain their social positivity and kindness by never speaking or listening to evil about other women. Men hearing these women speak evil would appear to “listen gladly” but ultimately “hold such women in small respect” and “esteem them so lightly as to despise their company” (177.) From the accounts held in The Courtier of women in the Renaissance, it can be said that women were almost considered to be “status symbols” during this time period. Some men aimed to treat women with courtesy and respect but never viewed them as true equals. Women were expected not to make a fuss, not to speak up too loudly, and to act positive and apolitical at every turn, resulting in a stifling lack of agency. As a whole, women were expected to be seen and not heard, ultimately having a scarce role in the era. Even still, misogyny and hatred was ubiquitous in this time period.

The Renaissance was a time of enlightenment and discovery around the world. There were many advancements in culture, art, and science. An interesting area to look at for this period would be the advancements made based on gender. Historically, women do not always have a significant impact on their culture, and they do not always have the same standing as their male counterparts. Margaret L. King and Joan Kelly-Gadol delve deeper into the issue of gender advancements during the Renaissance when they analyze the issue of whether women and men benefitted equally during this period.

Women had to remain with their husbands because they were forced to marriage by their fathers, society also didn’t allow them to have a higher education than men leaving women to have to suffer for how their lives are. In this city the family was the basic unit and so were blood ties as the most powerful cause of marriage. Many fathers had their daughters marry certain men that would help strengthen their position in the community. Marrying into my family had been an honor because we were the wealthiest and most respected citizens. Women who had lived here in Florence were the most educated women in Europe at the time even though they were not allowed to work for the government, they also could not teach at universities, or to make books on their view of

Between the 1300s and 1500s, Europe experienced a period of cultural rebirth known as the Renaissance, marking the transition from medieval times to modern times. The Renaissance brought new importance to individual expression, self-consciousness and worldly experience.

The two stories of Tobias and Guglielma caught the attention of the Florentines because they gave way to a perspective to reappraise the true female experience to be viewed as a social construct as much as a biological given, and women as universally created in accordance with the male needs and ideals of the society in which they lived. In fact, assessing primary sources have shown that neither men nor women were free to fashion an individual self, a personal identity independent of the values and demands of a society still structured around the communities of family, state, and an all-pervasive Church. Their values determined the very different roles of men and women in a social setup to which both sexes were committed. These portraits of the two saints represent a complex amalgam of what was real and what was ideal, signified by idealized features and stylized attributes, in the presentation of a self within the confines of religion and gender roles as defined by society.

The short story, “Roman Fever” illustrates the shocking relationship between two women, Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, by a chance meeting in Rome. As the story opens the two women are sitting on the terrace of a Roman restaurant that has an astonishing view of the Colosseum and other Roman ruins. While the women sit in silence and enjoy the tranquil view from the terrace they notice their daughters down below running off to spend a romantic evening with two young men. This triggers Mrs. Slades memories of her and Mrs. Ansley’s quixotic adventures in Rome as young adults and their first encounter with “Roman fever”. Wharton uses the term Roman fever to illustrative the women’s past relationship that is embedded with destruction,

The Enlightenment was a period when clusters of philosophers, writers, scholars, and aristocrats sharply debated standards and assumptions about women's rights in society. Issues that pertained to widening the women's sphere into more than just the household, questioning the ability of women to logic as men, and debating egalitarian co-educational opportunities for both boys and girls. This was a time when women started to come forth as intellectuals in response to the unbalanced status given to the “weaker” sex. Both male and female Enlightenment thinkers had opinions that spanned across each side of the issues. Jean-Jacque Rousseau, who in his novels, such as Emile,

In the stories “The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the female characters are unequal and less important than the men in society. The duties of women during this time period did not consist of much more than seeing to her husband’s needs and caring for the home and children. The authors show the lack of independence women were allowed in the 1800s, especially in marriage. The stories express women’s cry for equality and their feelings of entrapment in their marriage. Each story elaborates on the importance of social class in the 19th century, how women were presented in society, and how society

A critical point in European history was the Renaissance period, which took place between 1300-1700. The term Renaissance stands for ‘rebirth’, and in this context refers to the increased interest that was taken in learning from Greek and Roman classical writing. Recent exploration by historians into the Renaissance period has seen a fixation on the discussion of the role of gender during the Renaissance. A variety of historians, such as Joan Kelly and Merry E. Weisner, believe that women didn’t experience any form of a Renaissance during this period. It can be widely acknowledged that during this period society did experience a ‘rebirth’, especially in terms of the role of the men in Europe. Women, on the other hand, weren’t as fortunate.

In Renaissance Italy a woman's personal identity wasn't of any great importance. Her worth in society was calculated on how well she fit into the ideological image of the Renaissance woman. Women depicted in art were from the upper class and nobility, these women were confined to their domestic duties as their unions were to further the fortunes of their families. The rise of humanism in Renaissance Italy lead to an enlightened sense of the importance of individualism; however the belief failed to extend to women. The impact of Humanism in female portraiture-showing the sitter as a fully realised person with intellect, talents, and personality is frustratingly absent with few works displaying a grasp on the humanity of their female subjects.

Women’s lives were not easy, and they faced many struggles that although we don’t see in our country today, are still present in some lifestyles around the world. Overall, women had many limitations on their lives, along with marriage, raising a family, and jobs during the Renaissance. Women’s lives were very focused on the thought of marriage, and their whole lives depended on getting married at a certain age. The average lifespan was very short during the Renaissance due to many diseases and lack of proper treatment.

Previously, women were never looked at as equal to men because of past social traditions. Men were considered superior to women. Women had to follow their husband’s footsteps, and not publicly share their opinions. In the 16th Century through 18th century, women were limited in their involvement politically and socially in public because they were looked as only being mothers and wives, however, during this time new gains in education and politics because of Enlightenment ideals allowed women to more actively participate publicly, but ultimately had a small effect on all women as most of them still stayed at home and kept viewpoints out of the public eye.

In 17th century Euro-America Puritan society believed that men played a patriarchal role upon women, and that this role was instituted by God and nature. The seniority of men over women lay within both the household and the public sphere. The household, immediate family living in the same dwelling was subject to the male as head figure of the house. The public sphere also known as the social life within the Puritan community consisted of two echelons. These echelons consisted of formal and informal public. The formal public consisted of woman and indentured servants. Women were to stay within the informal public and stay in the shadows of the men. The government held large ties with the church in the 17th century. Though women were

As many may think, women weren’t as important during the renaissance period. Some seem to believe that women had it easier than they do today. Some even believe that they had much more power and independence. If only that were true. Women who showed too much independence, sexual or otherwise, were punished and sometimes even killed (Wiesner 59). Women were made to be seen as saints and remained loyal to one man. During the renaissance period, women went through many hardships and many things were expected of her by her family, as well as her husband. You might ask, what was marriage, education, and employment like for women during the renaissance period?

“ The belief that women were inherently inferior in intelligence, strength, and character was so persuasive that for men like Knox, a woman ruler was almost a contradiction in terms” (“Documents for Chapters 5&6”). In the 16th century, women were looked upon as a gender that should stay in the house and work, not have power and rule over a country. Discussing the govern of Queens during the 16th century, such as Mary Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, allowed prejudices to be lessened but never completely be erased. No matter how these four notable ladies came into power, the accomplishments they overcame, achieved and wrote about proved to be great and substantial in making history as it is written today.