Women's Role In The Renaissance

Baldassare Castiglione’s book, The Book of the Courtier, was one of the most influential works of the Renaissance period. In his book, Castiglione illustrates the ideal man of the Renaissance. He describes the qualities that need to be possessed in order to become a perfect courtier. Furthermore, he examines the role of both men and women in society, and offers a rather progressive viewpoint on women. The book offers the readers comparison on the ideals of society then and now.

The Renaissance movement was characterized in thought, writing, and art in a plethora of ways, it provided a bridge from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance period. To start with, thought was one of the building blocks of the bridge that gave way to the Renaissance period. Man was blind during the Middle Ages, hidden in “faith, illusion, and childish prepossession,” but then they woke up during the Renaissance and that is when the Renaissance man was born (Document 7). A Renaissance man is a man who is assertive but gentle and humble, avoiding excessive bragging. He should also be well-versed and proficient in writing verse and a jack of all trades (Document 1).

Studying and academic pursuits were an important aspect means of gaining power in the public world. Women were not permitted to take the civil service examinations during the 18th century. However, women were not necessarily denied access to knowledge, to a large extent, they were educated. Many women were literate, and many women wrote poems and other literary works.

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

Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes reveals the struggles women had in the 17th-18th centuries when it came to equal education opportunities. Women were expected to become people of domestication while men had many opportunities to expand their minds and be ambitious, and be leaders. Women were expected to focus on taking care of their family, not to have minds of their own. They wanted change.

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.

During the Middle Ages, except for those in religious positions, women were only seen as three things, which were daughter, wife, and mother. But in the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, new opportunities in learning humanism arose for only those in the higher class families. Even though they started to educate themselves, the majority had no rights whatsoever in money matters as well as estate. From the 17th century and up to the scientific revolution, women’s rights had consistently been improving. However, during the revolution, the study of the human body brought to attention that the male brain is quite larger than that of a female. This revelation set back the female race back to a limited role, but this time this setback was

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.

According to Paul Grendler, the conservative, clerical pedagogical theorist Silvio Antoniano (1540-1603) reflected on women’s educational status in Renaissance Italy in one of his written works, claiming that “…a girl (should not) learn ‘pleading and writing poetry’; the vain sex must not reach too high…A girl should attend to sewing, cooking, and other female activities, leaving to men what was theirs”. Apparently, this was the common-held view concerning women’s education during that time. Although women were actually encouraged to literacy, their subservient social role as wives and mothers could not allow them to learn as much as men did (Grendler, 1989).

For a few days after I moved to DC, I wondered what actions I can do to illustrate the concept of “civic engagement.” I thought it was a broad term, maybe because I was not familiar with the American term. However, when I took the time to look over the exceptional amount of things I learned and done in Washington DC, it was easy to write this paper.

The second area that saw the littlest change for women in the Renaissance was the expectations that came with their social status. Overall women were deemed to be a lower class in terms of gender, and men often treated them with less respect as a result. Within social classes, stereotypical beliefs regarding women and their role were held. Lower class women were expected to be housewives and take care of everything to do with the house. The expectation of working-class women, however, was slightly different. They were expected to work for their husbands and help them run their business, although they couldn’t partake in any of the work by themselves or outside of the house. However, this different expectation wasn’t necessarily new and was upheld from previous times, supporting this idea of women not receiving a Renaissance in the area of social class. Some women in the elite were able to become slightly more independent from their husbands and gain more responsibility, but the vast majority of women in the Renaissance continued to be used for the sole benefits of the men; as providers of a dowry, homemakers

In Venice, it was considered normal for women to be feminine and do as their husbands and fathers told them. It is unusual for them to be anything else. Women were commonly domestic servants, midwives, and the majority - housewives. 16th century girls did not attend school and were often educated at home. Women 's education lay mostly in religious study to become an obedient wife and mother. Marriages were usually arranged and not based on love. Divorces were also unknown at this time, leaving women with little

In the sixteenth century the role of women in society was very limited. Women were generally stereotyped as housewives and mothers. They were to be married, living their life providing for her husband and children. The patriarchal values of the Elizabethan times regarded women as the weaker sex.’ Men were considered the dominant gender and were treated with the utmost respect by females. Women were mainly restricted within the confines of their homes and were not allowed to go school or to university, but they could be educated at home by private tutors. Men were said to be the ones to provide for their families financially. Women were often seen as not intelligent. Property could not be titled in the name of a female within the family. Legally everything the female had belonged to her husband. Poor and middle class wives were kept very busy but rich women were not idle either. In a big house they had to organize and supervise the servants.

On Sunday, when Atticus has to leave town, Cal takes Jem and Scout to church. They enter the church, sit down, and listen to the Reverend Skyes speak. He talks about how they will all pray for Tom Robinson and his family while he is at court. Scout asks where the hymn books are, and Cal hushes her. When they sing the hymns Zeebo, Cal’s oldest son, goes up to the front of the church. Since the church doesn’t have any hymn books Zeebo has to memorize them and sing a verse to the crowd, which they repeat back to him. Near the end of church the Reverend says that they do not have enough money to give to Tom Robinson’s family. So he closes the church doors and makes the crowd give up ten more dollars to help.

An understanding of the educational background of women is necessary in discovering the female oppression of the Renaissance. Education was more than an issue of gender, especially in consideration of the consequences of wealth as well. Yet their oppression stems from their decision in whether or not they should study the liberal arts. Often was the case that women faced social stigmas and societal pressures from family members and learned men of the society for turning away from typically female activities. Lucrezia Marinella writes in her Exhortation, “Therefore, she who devotes her mind to learning – a domain that does