Examples Of Exemisia By Susan Vreeland

Throughout the 15th century through the 17th century the status of women is exemplified to be that of a subordinate position through the readings of “The Passion of Artemisia” by Susan Vreeland, McKay textbook chapter 13 reading and the DBQ “Did Women Have a Renaissance”. Traditional societal values and ideals, blinded many to the accomplishments and potential of females and continued to perpetuate a culture that valued and identified women with domestic work and motherhood. The institutionalized ignorance and ingrained bias of society helped to propel forward the systematic oppression of women whos minute sphere of influence equaled to less political power and property ownership. Subjected to violence, ridicule, discrimination and

Women who received such recognition for their outwardly contributions received a brunt of scorn and ridicule from others, as seen through Artemisia’s interactions with the characters in the book. In cases such as Artemisia’s, challenging male authority and “superiority” often times resulted in acts of violence and humiliation. As Isotta Nogarola wrote in a letter to Guarino Veronese, “Why then…was I born a women, to be scorned by men in words and deeds.” (document 9 of Did Women Have a Renaissance) Veronese’s frustration with the conditions reflects the impact of society on women’s wellbeing. The use of the sibile in court, to inflect pain on a woman in the hopes of leading her to tell the truth is an example of the innate bias towards men and brutality towards women. Behind the use of the sibile is the stark mentality that women won’t tell the truth and are incapable of being honest without the use of intimidating and painful measures. In cases such as Artemisia’s who became infamous for bringing her rapist to the court system, she was re-victimized repeatedly through the inflection of unnecessary pain and public

Despite the fact that women’s work was undervalued and females gained a lesser pay by ½ than that of males, (McGraw) some women still took on roles outside of the household in order to support themselves and/or their families. In the Venetian Arsenal shipbuilding area women were involved in the construction of sails and ship manufacturing. As overseas trading was common, women played a critical role in the upkeep of the shipping and ferry economy, which helped to generate most of the city states affluence. Conversely women played a critical role in the textile industry, weaving cloth and reeling silk. In urban settlements women ran shops and sold their crafts to markets, often times widows ran their husbands establishments. Outside of the cities and in impoverished, rural areas women supported their families by assisting in agricultural and manual labor tasks. In domestic affairs women served as midwives, maids, cooks, laundresses and servants (Mc Graw). Those with bolder pursuits to utilize their talents, were met by women such as Isabella Andreini an actress and artists Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi, (Mc Graw) the latter who became the 1st female to be inducted into the prestigious Florence Academy of Design (Passion of Artemisia). Likewise by the late 16th century around 25 women had already