HIST 129T: Women, Sex, and Power

Directed Reading #4

To be or not to be….a nun: Early Modern Women and Religion

“A Letter to a Virtuous Lady…”

1.      What is the point of this letter?  Who do you think likely to have written it?

2.      What arguments does the author present to dissuade this lady from entering the convent?

3.      What alternative does the author offer?

Cecilia Ferrazzi’s Autobiography

1.      What is the nature of Ferrazzi’s autobiography?  What is she recounting?

2.      For whom did she write?  Why?  Do you think her audience shaped the account?  How so?

3.      Many of the episodes Cecilia recounts center around visions she had.  How does she depict these episodes/visions?  Who “visits” her?  What is the issue here?

4.      As presented by Cecilia, what is her relationship to the Virgin like?  What does this imply?

5.      How would you define Ferrazzi’s religious experience?  Explain.

6.      What was Cecilia’s self-image?  In other words, how did she portray herself?  Did she, in effect, “pretend to be a saint”?  Explain.

7.      Cecilia’s account centers on the issues of obedience and purity.  What odes she have to say about them?  How are they related?

Arcangela Tarabotti’s Paternal Tyranny

1.      To whom does Tarabotti dedicate her book?  Why?  How does the dedication relate to the rest of the book?

2.      Explain in detail what, according to Tarabotti, is paternal tyranny.

3.      According to what we are told in the book, what are the implications of paternal tyranny for women?  For society in general?

4.      What sources does Tarabotti use to support her argument?  Rhetorically speaking, is she successful?

5.      Is Arcangela’s invective against monachation in general?  Explain.

“Female Monasticism and Family Strategy”

1.      What is Baker’s main argument?  What is, according to her, the relationship between female monasticism and familial strategy?

2.      What were the benefits of life in the convent for the women involved?  For their families?

3.      One of Baker’s arguments is that abbesses had a great amount of “power”.  What does she mean?  What kind of power did they hold?

4.      What is the relationship between the convent and religious orthodoxy?  According to the author, how and why would noble dynasties, represented by their nuns, shape religious practice?