The Role of Women

Question 1

What did Sir Thomas Elyot’s ‘The Defence of Good Women’ argue the role of woman was?

Answer 1

To be ‘more circumspect’ than men; ‘temperance’ (moderation, etymology ‘to moderate’) as their key ability

Question 2

What did Sir Thomas Elyot’s ‘The Defence of Good Women’ argue was superior about women?

Answer 2

‘Women be more excellent in reason than men’; ‘temperance’ (moderation, etymology ‘to moderate’) being their key ability

Question 3

Carole Levin, models for women

Answer 3

‘The Church provided two models for women: Eve, the temptress, and Mary, the mother of God’ - dichotomy between virginity and lustfulness
however argues these ideals do not match the ‘ambiguous’ reality

Question 4

Constance Jordan

Answer 4

Argues that humanists identified value in a past perceived as ‘genderless’ (hence their ability to recognise exemplary women from antiquity)

Question 5

Elaine Berlin

Answer 5

Contemporary female authors assert that women’s place, even if lower in the earthly hierarchy, is higher in the spiritual world