Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance

During the Italian Renaissance, dozens of early modern writers published collections of private correspondence, using them as vehicles for self-presentation, self-promotion, social critique, and religious dissent. Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance examines the letter collections of women writers, arguing that these works were a studied performance of pervasive ideas about gender as well as genre, a form of self-fashioning that variously reflected, manipulated, and subverted cultural and literary conventions regarding femininity and masculinity. Meredith K. Ray presents letter collections from authors of diverse backgrounds, including a noblewoman, a courtesan, an actress, a nun, and a male writer who composed letters under female pseudonyms. Ray's study includes extensive new archival research and highlights a widespread interest in women's letter collections during the Italian Renaissance that suggests a deep curiosity about the female experience and a surprising openness to women's participation in this kind of literary production. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 PART ONE: The Vernacular Letter in Context 13 Introduction: Reading the Lettera familiare 13 1 Women’s Vernacular Letters in Context 29 PART TWO: The Epistolary Construction of Gender 55 2 Female Impersonations: Ortensio Lando’s Lettere di molte valorose donne 55 3 ‘A gloria del sesso feminile’: The Lettere of Lucrezia Gonzaga as Exemplary Narrative 91 PART THREE: Epistolary Space and Female Experience 133 4 The Courtesan’s Voice: Veronica Franco’s Lettere familiari 133 5 Between Stage and Page: The Letters of Isabella Andreini 166 6 The Pen for the Sword: Arcangela Tarabotti’s Lettere familiari e di complimento 194 Epilogue: Writing Letters, Performing Gender 224 Notes 231 Bibliography 333 Index 365 Ray's study includes extensive new archival research and highlights a widespread interest in women's letter collections during the Italian Renaissance that suggests a deep curiosity about the female experience and a surprising openness to women's participation in this kind of literary production--Résumé de l'éditeur