A woman in the Renaissance is defined by three stages in her life: Pre-Marriage/Childhood, Married, and widowed (unless she dies first) and would only be seen as a sister, a wife, a mother, and nothing more. Her place in society was “to be obedient; manage the household; rear the children; and nurse the ill.” But all in all they were considered less than men, mostly in the case of higher reasoning which society (which was influenced by the male perspective) believed only men were capable of . The social expectations around women and their roles defined their worth in society, and if they tried to break free from those roles she would be received only with resistance, in which case women had to take back their agency by taking back their roles
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Chastity until marriage was detrimental to the lives of women who sought out to marry someone of influence. Without their chastity (if they were unmarried) it was “most likely [they would] join the ranks of prostitutes” this was also the same for women who did not have a male figure to protect them and take care of them. “A women’s status was not fixed at birth by the status of their fathers” as women had some semblance of social mobility which was fixed on whether or not she had the support of men in her life. Thus being if her husband died and her family wouldn’t accept her, she could easily fall into the ranks of prostitution and poverty. A women’s life was dependent on the men which could easily fail her by taking her chastity before marriage (thus dishonouring and shaming her family), but also she could move up ranks by marriage and friends that she makes. Interestingly enough, rape was taken fairly seriously especially if the woman was married. Penalties would be taken place against the perpetrator not to mention revenge against the rapist was likely to happen as well. But sadly, the status man played an important part on whether or not the conviction was more severe or not, “a man of high status would be considered a light
Chastity until marriage was detrimental to the lives of women who sought out to marry someone of influence. Without their chastity (if they were unmarried) it was “most likely [they would] join the ranks of prostitutes” this was also the same for women who did not have a male figure to protect them and take care of them. “A women’s status was not fixed at birth by the status of their fathers” as women had some semblance of social mobility which was fixed on whether or not she had the support of men in her life. Thus being if her husband died and her family wouldn’t accept her, she could easily fall into the ranks of prostitution and poverty. A women’s life was dependent on the men which could easily fail her by taking her chastity before marriage (thus dishonouring and shaming her family), but also she could move up ranks by marriage and friends that she makes. Interestingly enough, rape was taken fairly seriously especially if the woman was married. Penalties would be taken place against the perpetrator not to mention revenge against the rapist was likely to happen as well. But sadly, the status man played an important part on whether or not the conviction was more severe or not, “a man of high status would be considered a light