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Renaissance Poetry - Research Paper

Renaissance Poetry


Renaissance ideas of women were strongly shaped by the writers of the time and by the conceptions of femininity that had existed since the Middle Ages. No one more strongly affected the early Renaissance idea of what a woman was than Petrarch, he idealized women and heterosexual love in such a way that its power would resonate into love as we see it now.
Love for Petrarch was something that was ideal and perfect, held firmly above man in the heavens, yet at the same time it meant anguish and the lack of connection with any real human emotion. He portrayed women as ideals, with stars in their eyes and their feet treading on golden ground. His ideal woman was so far removed from a real ...

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that was weighted down with the chains of an abusive patriarchal society.
The difficulty that female writers faced cannot be understated. As Wendy Wall states, "When women wrote, privately or publicly, they had to confront forms and figures that alienated them from the position of speaking subject." This difficulty was perhaps the most profound in terms of their ability to set up a counter idea to the Petrarchan ideal woman. Silencing them ensured that males could define what it meant to be a woman, and Petrarch ensured that there was a dominant tradition to counteract any redefinition on the part of women writers.
Petrarch sets up for the reader the masthead of the patriarchal society, a woman who is the virgin ideal. Pure and perfect enough to inhabit the world of fantasy that made up his ideal of love, she is a goddess on earth. He does so through his use of superfluous language and rich images of decadence, women become pieces of art to be eaten with only the senses. ...

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pedestals. If the wind would take special care to treat her hair differently than others, then there must be something about her that is particularly special or worthy of praise. This is a clever way of sanctifying the idealized woman, because if nature itself reveres women in this way then obviously his use of women as ideal objects is justified. Petrarch understands this and thus the inclusion of nature as a beautifying force is useful in legitimizing the ideal woman.
The effect of Petrarch's idealization of women is to render them unable to converse with men on an equal level. Equality is something that in theory is held dear to the Renaissance, "Being equals, women can participate ...

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"Renaissance Poetry." Essayworld.com. July 31, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Renaissance-Poetry/30888.
"Renaissance Poetry." Essayworld.com. July 31, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Renaissance-Poetry/30888.
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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 7/31/2005 02:28:52 AM
Category: English
Type: Free Paper
Words: 2423
Pages: 9

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