The Subservient Roles Of Women During The Renaissance

During the Renaissance, women occupied subservient roles in the nobility, family, and workforce, while also struggling against these restrictions. Throughout the Renaissance, when Europeans underwent a time of philosophical and artistic rebirth, society placed women into subservient roles, meaning they did not experience the same feeling of rebirth. In the nobility, women rarely earned a place of power, but if they got that power, they used it to help women gain an education. In the family, said standards forced women to oversee the household, but used their cooking implements to protest their treatment. Finally, women in the workforce only had simple jobs or jobs that helped their husbands, and their employers paid them little to none for

Women had to adhere to strict rules surrounding their actions, such as acting with obedience and silence. Due to men’s restrictions, women lacked freedom in their lives and commonly occupied domestic roles. Though not placed into their own social class, women’s husbands and fathers considered them their property, and women occupied the same social status as their male protectors. Men expected their wives to oversee their households and perform work that required little thought, such as luxury textile creation and household management. Women’s talents often remained unnoticed, as no one saw them beyond their gender commonly classified as weak.
Monarchs rarely gave women positions of power, but when they did, they used them for the good of other women. Noblewomen’s roles primarily revolved around the household and the court, and their husbands forced them into obedience. In the household, women oversaw staff and their children’s education, and very rarely left the house. Even when

Similar to noblewomen, middle-class women only occupied roles surrounding their households. Husbands expected their wives to manage their households, supervise their servants, and attend to sick household members, while always acting obedient. Though somewhat necessary, women occupied monotonous and simple household jobs, while their husbands had enriching jobs, such as artisan or merchant work. Unless a woman enjoyed nursing people back to health or cooking, they did not have a compelling life, especially compared to those of their husbands and fathers. By only letting women have these simple, domestic jobs, men limited women’s growth and learning, therefore making themselves superior. Instead of letting the roles they had to perform wear them down, women found ways to protest. Though forced by their husbands into domestic jobs, women used their cooking implements as weapons to protest their treatment, showing how they turned their subservient roles into powerful positions. These protests often resulted in minor injuries and humiliation of whoever women protested against. The use of cooking tools, such as knives, dishes, and pots as weapons shows the resilience of women, as well as how they used their resources to gain equality. Men forced women into their household roles, so by protesting their treatment, women purposely