Ap European Women Dbq Analysis

Perspective of Women in European Society
Views on women have changed throughout society drastically in many ways. But from the fifteenth century to the mid seventeenth century in Europe, there were many documents produced regarding the place of women in society. During this time women could have been seen through a religious leader, humanist, and early feminist perspective. At this time the European society greatly depended on a religious leader’s report of the place of women in society. Since the Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation were happening in this period, many conflicted people turned to religious leaders ideas to finalize their decision on what church to stay with based on their views on women. Martin Luther, the …show more content…
One effective humanist, Leon Battista Alberti, determined what a man should find in a woman. The author of “On the Family” proclaimed “Even a prodigal, greasy, drunken women may be of beautiful feature, but no one would call her a beautiful wife.(Doc 2).” This can be interpreted as that a woman who is charming, even as drunk, will not be a graceful wife and will not have the ideal children. Alberti supports men to find wives who are intelligent so that they will not have a love child who will be a disgrace to both families. But, this statement could have emboldened women to achieve an education. Deliberately, Alberti mainly addresses men to find a wife who is educated, since he was a child out of wedlock and most likely was horribly treated. Even though this document mainly addresses men; it could be interpreted that women were seen as objects instead of humans during this time in society even though the changes women are attempting to achieve. Another famous humanist who wrote “The Courtier,” Baldassare Castiglione, indirectly debated that men should see women as equals. Not only does Baldassare encourage men to treat women equally, he embraces the fact women should receive an education. In “The Courtier” it states “...she will most be graceful, and will converse appropriately with every person in whose company she may happen to be, using witticism and pleasantries that are …show more content…
One of the greatest examples of an early feminist was Christine de Pisan, who proved through her achievements that women were able to obtain education. In Pisan’s work “City of the Ladies,” she clearly states that women were given the ability by God to attain an education(Doc 1). Pisan realized that “If it were customary to send daughters to school like sons, and if they were then taught natural sciences, they would learn as thoroughly and understand(Doc 1)...” Pisan purposely wrote this since she is an example of a woman who received a full education that supposedly was only meant for men. This first feminist destroyed the stereotypes that men expected from women within society, but she was still overlooked since she was a woman. Another early feminist was Laura Cereta, who’s statements of education coincides with Pisan’s, but encourages women to become more than what society predicts. Cereta allocates that women of the higher class consume most of their time perfecting their beauty image and not pursuing an education, which is a privilege to the upper class(Doc 3). Willfully, Cereta creates an attempt to set educational priorities for women and content a woman's’ pursuit of an equal

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