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Women during the Renaissance era
The impact of the Renaissance on modern life
Women during the Renaissance era
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The Renaissance was beneficial in many ways, from its enlightening ideas, to its art. However, there are many debates about how The Renaissance changed the lives women. Did women benefit from The Renaissance? There were many ways women benefited from the Renaissance. The Renaissance gave more light to philosophy, there was a female ruler, and art put them in the public eye. There also many ways in which The Renaissance did not impact the lives of women at all. Women weren't allowed to take part as much men. Upper class women had even fewer rights than peasant women. One way women benefit from The Renaissance was that Queen Elizabeth I was queen. Queen Elizabeth I did not marry. She made many important decisions and was respected. Queen Elizabeth was the 3rd queen to rule England herself. She made many important decisions, like allowing plays to be performed in England. She increased the role of literature and art during the time. Queen …show more content…
The Renaissance gave more light to philosophy, and philosophers thought everyone is equal. There was a female ruler, and art put women in the public eye. Yet, women weren't allowed to take part as much as men, and upper class women had even less rights than peasant women. Queen Elizabeth affected the West in many ways. She refused to marry until the day she died, and she defeated the Spanish Armada. Her supporting the arts also helped plays and paintings bring women more into the public eye. Still, women still had less rights than men at the time. Most philosophers were men and many of them preached of how men were more powerful than women. And in contrast to popular belief, upper class women had even less rights than peasant women at the time. Upper class women were treated as mere housewives, which limited the rights of women because the most powerful women at the time were illiterate. Giving them little power compared to
Women in society were always put as not being equal to men. During the Renaissance, women were inferior to men; women in different classes had different roles. Low class women were expected to be housewives and take care of everything to do with the house. Working class women were expected to work for their husbands and help them run their business. They would work along side with their husbands and then go home and take care of the household. Upper class women may have had servants and workers working for them but the women were still expected to take care of the house hold.
The Enlightenment started to raise questions about women, and their roles within society in Western Europe. Women were only allowed to discuss these intellectual stimulations within the salons, however not outside in public. This started the groundwork for further speculation. Arguably, the most notable (and influential) philosopher of the Enlightenment was Voltaire. He was one of the few philosophers that was able to bring about the positive view of philosophy among Western Society.
...conomic success of the colonies. Rules and laws of society held women back, but they also gained more influence, power, and opportunities. Although they were not allowed to participate in politics, in 1780, women received better educational opportunities. In addition to that, women also received more rights and possessions. For example, men put their wives into their wills and gave them land and/or possessions for both the wives themselves and their children. Finally, as the Colonial period progressed, women received fair judgement in divorce cases.
Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. "Do Women Need The Renaissance?" Gender & History 20.3 (2008): 539-557. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Across Europe, between 1400 and 1650, there were women present in all major styles of time. They worked along side of great artists and were developing new techniques and styles. Women also played a very important role in the Renaissance. Although not as well documented as their male counterparts, women worked along with the other great masters, were just as innovating, and were key in developing new techniques.
A huge part of the economical grow of the United States was the wealth being produced by the factories in New England. Women up until the factories started booming were seen as the child-bearer and were not allowed to have any kind of career. They were valued for factories because of their ability to do intricate work requiring dexterity and nimble fingers. "The Industrial Revolution has on the whole proved beneficial to women. It has resulted in greater leisure for women in the home and has relieved them from the drudgery and monotony that characterized much of the hand labour previously performed in connection with industrial work under the domestic system. For the woman workers outside the home it has resulted in better conditions, a greater variety of openings and an improved status" (Ivy Pinchbeck, Women Workers and the Industrial Revolution, 1750-1850, pg.4) The women could now make their own money and they didn’t have to live completely off their husbands. This allowed women to start thinking more freely and become a little bit more independent.
Women played major roles in shaping roman society. Women became more educated and diligent. They were given more rights compared to other civilizations that arose around the same time. They were now protected by law and help them escape abusive or bad marriage. Women of ancient had their own actions and it can lead them to their on consequence, if not prosperity. For the first times women were being listened by there
Women, in general, were expected to be able to run their homes, taking care of their spouses and children in whatever form was needed at the time. They were looked down on as uneducated without the ability to understand the more intricate knowledge of politics and the running of businesses of any kind. They had no rights except for what they received from the graciousness of their husbands. Their opinions did not matter, in the long run and they were treated as inferior, expected to stay in their place unquestioning and unassuming.
... Her influence combined with other women fighting and the spirit of rebellion already set in men spiked women's interests in their rights and made them want to struggle for their privileges. Before the American Revolution, women did not realize just how unfairly men were treating them until they experienced working, managing a household, and life without their husbands. It made them aware of their place in society and many wondered just why they were inferior to men at that time. That American Revolution was what led up to the women's rights movement of 1848 and without it, who knows when women would have ever revolted against this unjust behavior and obtained the right to vote in 1920.
The Renaissance period also changed through literature. This new change in literature was important because it taught people to read,write and with learning how to read and write gave people the needed components to do for themselves, different ways to think and use knowledge to better themselves.. Many more people got more chances to read and write instead of the select few. This gave people more opportunity at jobs, gave the servants a more chance for freedom.(Doc.b)
In the Renaissance era, freedom of speech was not identified throughout the people and society. This gave men the authority to be superior to women, which was unjust. “ The ideal women was rarely seen and never heard in public: women were expected to be housewives and take care of everything to do with the house.” (Cloud). Women had no opinion or say in absolutely anything. It was uncommon to see women talk or gossip with each other because men did not tolerate it. Women had no right to speak freely or express how they felt. Women had no say or opinion; the masculine sex had power over everything and anything. Most men treated women extremely awful, in other words, they were treated as slaves in their society and relationships. During the Renaissance women wished for equality between genders but the church and society furiously disagreed because they insisted on viewing women as the lower sex. Women did not agree with that because they felt it was unreasonable but there was nothin...
As women started working, patriarchal control of the family was upset (Faragher 400). Women were now bringing in income just like the men were and to them this was empowering. They now longer depended on a man to survive. Now that women were working many also wanted an education beyond high school. Women started going to college and with a better education were able to further increase the interest of the women 's rights movements (Knight 361). Despite these advances women still were not close to gaining equality to their male counterparts. However they did gain more control of the family’s well being.
Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the “Iron Queen”, was a remarkable woman of her time, she ruled with great power and longevity. She was one of the greatest feminist of time. Coming to the throne in 1558, she took the place of her father, Henry VIII. She was given one of the most difficult jobs fit for a man or King, ruling England. At the time women were second class citizens, they could not vote nor own properties and such. Surprising England with her intelligence and fierce rulings, she changed herself to make better decisions. She proved through her rulings, to everyone that females were strong and could rule just as well as a king. She refused to marry, giving a feeling of “I don’t need a man for anything.” The Queen was responsible for giving females a voice in literature and it is shown through Shakespeare’s writings.
The Renaissance was a period of revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe. It is often called the “rebirth” during the course of the 15th and 16th century. This revival started in Italy, then over time, spread throughout Europe. The Renaissance is important because it had a big impact on society by shaping our cultural outlook and developed a new artistic expression in paintings, music, and writing. The Renaissance also turned society to a more humanist view and had advances in scientific research. Without this important movement, our society would differ in having a lack of humanism viewpoints.
The social lives of people were greatly influenced by advancements in education during the Renaissance. More people then ever before were send to schools and educated. Schools for girls were built, and they were taught sewing, reading, writing, and dancing. Some of these schools even had teachers for singing and playing instruments. Upper class women were taught language, philosophy, theology and mathematics. But their education only prepared them for social life at home. Women lost political power, access to property and their role in shaping society.