Women in Venice Flashcards
Who was Casanova having an affair with whilst betrothed to C.C.?
- M.M., a Nun.
Why did M.M mention pregnancy to Casanova?
- Absolute taboo –> getting pregnant out of wedlock, let alone being a nun.
- Run serious risk of getting in trouble with the law –> comes back to honour.
Why is M.M different from your typical woman of the time?
- Seems enlightened, curious into matters which superseded the female domain of the time, e.g. questioning how the action of the created can influence the creator.
What does M.M have to say about religion?
- Does not believe that what the Priest tells us will give one the pleasure to live and die peacefully –> told religion necessarily the right one?
What did M.M have to say about enlightenment (intellectually) ?
- ‘My happiness at having found someone to enlighten me is greater than my unhappiness at having taken the veil’.
How is Casanova a proto-feminist?
Believed women were equal with men, way ahead of its time.
Why is Casanova captivated by M.M?
- Intellect.
- As a nun, she’s expected to be modest and pious –> opposite / inversed = different.
- Free spirit, willing to defy the law.
(Other Casanova chapters about women) What did Casanova have to say about Silvia?
- ‘Earned the title of respectable at an age when most women of her station would have found it ridiculous and almost insulting to be called’.
; –> maintain feminine roles, respectably associated with masculinity? - ‘Silvia was a woman above her station’.
(Other Casanova chapters about women) What did Casanova have to say about infidelity in Paris?
- ‘I was new to Paris. I was not used to hearing a woman encroach on the rights of men’.
; –> talking of men’s ability to commit adultery and for it to be considered acceptable, in juxtaposition to women who would be heavily stigmatised for it.
(In Brown’s writings) How were convents viewed?
- A place for discarded middle-class women and patrician families as opposed to women of strong religious vocation.
(In Brown’s writings) In general terms, who was believed to be more sinful? Men or women?
- Women.
- More lustful than men, easily given to debauchery.
(In Evangelisti’s writings) What was the expected life of a nun?
- Spiritual experience in the service of God.
- Prayer, silent contemplation.
- Unconditional commitment to the religious community according to the ideal monasticism.
(In Evangelisti’s writings) How did a Nun’s life differ from the typical woman of the Early Modern Europe?
- Escape social expectations of marriage, motherhood and dangers of child-bearing
- Also escape marital authority.
(In Evangelisti’s writings) How did Nuns imitate Christ and the Apostles?
- Practiced acts of self-denial and mortification, embraced chastity in order to be purified and to attain sanctity.
(In Evangelisti’s writings) Why were Nuns physically segregated?
- A response to the dangers out of the outside, sinful world.
- Women naturally inclined towards sin, exposure to the Devil, lust of flesh.
- Restricted opportunities for sinful and scandalous behaviour.
