Giovanni And Lusanna: Love And Marriage In Renaissance

Giovanni and Lusanna by Gene Brucker is an organized depiction of the two Florentine lovers, Giovanni della Casa and his lover Lusanna. The story of these two lovers begin on their secret 12 year affair, but ends in calamity when Lusanna’s brother Benedetto Girolamo files a lawsuit against Giovanni claiming he had broken his marriage vows by marrying an aristocratic woman Marietta. The book goes into full detail with notaries, archbishops, deceiving witnesses, and slut shaming. A scandal that breaks social norms in 15th century Florence, this book was written with expressiveness, intellect and interest that is surely able to keep the reader intrigued.

Many of Giovanni’s witnesses that were summoned were from noble families indicating elite ties. But most of those called to testify for his side were Lusanna’s neighbors and erstwhile friends form the same artisan community to which her father and her first husband had belonged (Brucker, 26). Their evidence was seen as particularly informative concerning Lusanna’s character and her motives, though the reliability of their testimonies was not taken for granted and revealed their personal bias against her. The uncertainty of lies being told, bribes being given, or stories being altered due to emotional attachment was always be taken into account. The people who testified for Lusana were people of low status and reputation, whose evidence was discredited because they were bound to her by ties of blood and friendship (Brucker, 27). Other testimonies, both from Giovanni and Lusanna, were discredited for other reasons that did not make them reliable sources. Not only did social credibility play a role in this case but gender as

Alessandra Strozzi wrote many letters to her children which can convey to us the importance of family in Florence during the Renaissance. Alessandra’s husband Matteo died, and so these letters are written from the perspective of a widow, not a married woman. In Women of the Renaissance by Margaret L. King, it states that widows of the Renaissance could dispose of the family wealth themselves and were also able to carry on their husband’s trade. In this case, Alessandra took on the responsibility of finding spouses for her children. The following letter is written from Alessandra to her son Filippo concerning finding him a wife and shows how much thought was put

marriage women should be innocent, pure and faithful. Don John's plan to make Claudio think hero is unfaithful is a success which then Claudio, Don Pedro and Don John perceives Hero is unclean and impure.

The Courtier, originally written as a “courtesy book”, can now be considered to provide significant insight into the norms and practices associated with courtship and gender during the Renaissance era. The book’s third volume is a particularly insightful window into 16th century romantic ideals. Throughout Book Three, Baldassare Castiglione builds an elaborate perspective on what makes the perfect court lady, what sexual and social behavior is acceptable, and how an ideal couple (both courtier and court lady) should function.

Claudio's sister Isabella is dragged out of the convent to plead for him, on the assumption that her superior virtue might move Angelo's heart to pardon her brother. Does it? No. Rather, it pierces right through Angelo's cold Puritanism and sets his heart and other bits on fire. We see through this carefully controlled man into the roaring pit that he has tried so hard to conceal. He falls a victim to the very passion he is prosecuting in Claudio; in doing so, he comes to represent the conflict between good and evil in Vienna as he struggles with the knowledge that he cannot control his own desires.

Her honor is disgraced for her “actions” and Claudio will no longer accept her as his wife because of the dishonor she has caused him.

During the Renaissance time period, each man and woman needed to strive to meet the “ideal” image that was expected by society. If this image was not met, the person would be judged by society. Both males and females had different goals that they needed to meet in education, as well as in their lives. While there was an “ideal” image, some people disagreed with them. There was always a distinct role for both women and men, but within those roles, there could be controversy. The most controversy could occur over the education that the males and females were getting, there were clear roles and ideals for men and women in the beginning of the Renaissance time period, but as time went on, people became more skeptical of the

Luvenia loses her job over a lie she was involved in. John Deets informs, “Your services will no longer be required” (188). This proves Luvenia got fired. The reasoning behind her losing her job is Florenz, Mr.Deets daughter. Florenz included Luvenia in a lie so Florenz could drive her father’s car and that is how Luvenia lost her job. Luvenia describes, “The crushing feeling seemed to rise from her knees, careen through her trembling body, and settle heavily in Luvenia’s chest” (189). This presents how much getting fired affected Luvenia. As a result, Luvenia may also lose her opportunity to attend college because of this

The revenge that was in Don John’s heart was so strong that he decided to emotionally, socially and mentally kill Hero by making it look like she cheated on Claudio with Borachio. Once Claudio and Don Pedro found out that this was “true” they both made a plan to humiliate Hero on the altar during the weeding. Once all of this went down Hero was completely shocked and as she was trying to explain herself that she did not do this no one believed her. Her own father Leonato disowned her right there and there. This lie created such a big scandal all around Messina. Everyone now saw Hero as a cheater. The only one that did believe her was friar John. This is when another lie was made up to protect Heros social image. Friar John decided to make

His wife would forgive him for his philander with servant girls but not with "educated or artistic"(Stafford 119) (Paumgartner, Mozart, 273). As this showed the sexual freedom of the 18th century Italy, it was quite common to have extra marital affairs for both men and women. Discretion was the only rule that was demanded by the upper society to which Don Giovanni never adhered. Donna Elvira had a love-hate relationship with him. He would not have been able to access her rooms.

The story is about two sisters Katherine and Bianca. Bianca has a suitor who would like to marry her, Lucentio, but the only way that he will be able to marry her is if her older sister is married first. When Petruccio arrives to Padua he agrees to court and marry Katherine because she will provide a lovely dowry. Rumor has it that Katherine is a cynical, unruly, and

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.

Don John's malevolent plan to ruin Claudio and Hero's wedding was to take effect the night before they were to wed. The malicious Don John constructed, or rather misconstructed, the scheme that insinuated Claudio's belief in Hero's faithlessness. It is Don John who reports to Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is having an affair, and he who stage-manages an elaborate charade featuring his own henchman Borachio and an unwitting stand-in for Hero to lend credence to this fiction. Perhaps the most significant thing to be noted in connection with this deception is that the spectator does not witness the crucial scene in which Claudio overhears the counterfeit exchanges between Margaret and Borachio that persuade him of Hero's guilt. We learn of this episode only at second hand, when Borachio boasts of his exploit (Lucking).

Angelo doesn't want to be married and neither does Lucio. Therefore the Duke uses marriage as a punishment instead of death. He commands Angelo with the imperative 'look that you love your wife' and tells the provost to 'proclaim it? around the city'- that any woman disvalued by Lucio should come forward.