These women had no thought of the public; their function
was to influence distinguished men, and to moderate male impulse and
caprice.
The highest praise which could then be given to the great Italian women
was that they had the mind and the courage of men. We have only to
observe the thoroughly manly bearing of most of the women in the heroic
poems, especially those of Boiardo and Ariosto, to convince ourselves
that we have before us the ideal of the time. The title 'virago,' which
is an equivocal compliment in the present day, then implied nothing but
praise. It was borne in all its glory by Caterina Sforza, wife and
afterwards widow of Girolamo Riario, whose hereditary possession,
Forli, she gallantly defended first against his murderers, and then
against Cesare Borgia. Though finally vanquished, she retained the
admiration of her countrymen and the title 'prima donna d'Italia.' This
heroic vein can be detected in many of the women of the Renaissance,
though none found the same opportunity of showing their heroism to the
world. In Isabella Gonzaga this type is clearly recognizable.
Women of this stamp could listen to novels like those of Bandello,
without social intercourse suffering from it. The ruling genius of
society was not, as now, womanhood, or the respect for certain
presuppositions, mysteries, and susceptibilities, but the consciousness
of energy, of beauty, and of a social state full of danger and
opportunity.
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