Motherhood and Patriarchal Masculinities in Sixteenth-Century Italian Comedy

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Motherhood and Patriarchal Masculinities in Sixteenth-Century Italian Comedy by Yael Manes, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Yael Manes ISBN: 9781317094029
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Yael Manes
ISBN: 9781317094029
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Exploring individual and collective formation of gender identities, this book contributes to current scholarly discourses by examining plays in the genre of 'erudite comedy' (commedia erudita), which was extremely popular among sixteenth-century Italians from the elite classes. Author Yael Manes investigates five erudite comedies-Ludovico Ariosto's I suppositi (1509), Niccolò Machiavelli's La Mandragola (1518) and Clizia (1525), Antonio Landi's Il commodo (1539), and Giovan Maria Cecchi's La stiava (1546)-to consider how erudite comedies functioned as ideological battlefields where the gender system of patriarchy was examined, negotiated, and critiqued. These plays reflect the patriarchal order of their elite social milieu, but they also offer a unique critical vantage point on the paradoxical formation of patriarchal masculinity. On the one hand, patriarchal ideology rejects the mother and forbids her as an object of desire; on the other hand, patriarchal male identity revolves around representations of motherhood. Ultimately, the comedies reflect the desire of the Italian Renaissance male elite for women who will provide children to their husbands but not actively assume the role of a mother. In sum, Manes reveals a wide cultural understanding that motherhood-as an activity that women undertake, not simply a relational position they occupy-challenges patriarchy because it bestows women with agency, power, and authority. Manes here recovers the complexity of Renaissance Italian discourse on gender and identity formation by approaching erudite comedies not only as mirrors of their audiences but also as vehicles for contemporary audiences' ideological, psychological, and emotional expressions.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Exploring individual and collective formation of gender identities, this book contributes to current scholarly discourses by examining plays in the genre of 'erudite comedy' (commedia erudita), which was extremely popular among sixteenth-century Italians from the elite classes. Author Yael Manes investigates five erudite comedies-Ludovico Ariosto's I suppositi (1509), Niccolò Machiavelli's La Mandragola (1518) and Clizia (1525), Antonio Landi's Il commodo (1539), and Giovan Maria Cecchi's La stiava (1546)-to consider how erudite comedies functioned as ideological battlefields where the gender system of patriarchy was examined, negotiated, and critiqued. These plays reflect the patriarchal order of their elite social milieu, but they also offer a unique critical vantage point on the paradoxical formation of patriarchal masculinity. On the one hand, patriarchal ideology rejects the mother and forbids her as an object of desire; on the other hand, patriarchal male identity revolves around representations of motherhood. Ultimately, the comedies reflect the desire of the Italian Renaissance male elite for women who will provide children to their husbands but not actively assume the role of a mother. In sum, Manes reveals a wide cultural understanding that motherhood-as an activity that women undertake, not simply a relational position they occupy-challenges patriarchy because it bestows women with agency, power, and authority. Manes here recovers the complexity of Renaissance Italian discourse on gender and identity formation by approaching erudite comedies not only as mirrors of their audiences but also as vehicles for contemporary audiences' ideological, psychological, and emotional expressions.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Women, Modernism and British Poetry, 1910–1939 by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Spaceship Earth in the Environmental Age, 1960–1990 by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Reflections of a Veteran Pessimist by Yael Manes
Cover of the book The New Early Years Professional by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Revolutions of the Heart by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Crime Prevention by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Photovoltaics and Architecture by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Shipbreaking in Developing Countries by Yael Manes
Cover of the book The Monetary History of Gold by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Destructiveness, Intersubjectivity and Trauma by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Consuming the Past by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Interdisciplinary Collaboration by Yael Manes
Cover of the book The Prevention of Eating Problems and Eating Disorders by Yael Manes
Cover of the book Mobile Communication and Greater China by Yael Manes
Cover of the book The French Revolution and the Russian Anti-Democratic Tradition by Yael Manes
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy