VIC342H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Veronica Franco, Syphilis, Gender Bender
17 May 2017
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Born in venice 1546, died in 1591. Courtesans 1 in 10 inhabitants in venice earned a living through sex. Honest courtesan sex workers varied from the most abject prostitute to the honest or honored courtesan. Supported by one or at most two wealthy clients at a time. Pieza: go between, procurer (pimp) her mother was her pimp. Persona as an authored woman of letters, outspoken, female freedom, equality with her interlocutors. Wrote two sonnets celebrating henry iii while also celebrating herself. Power balance is off when she gives him a gift. City government alternatively tolerated them and harassed them. A life of luxury for those who made it. Sumptuary laws forbidding them from wearing silk, lace, brocades, golden embroidery, pearls. Highly educated in languages, music, dance, composition. Courtesans are vulnerable to attacks by satirical poems, read by everyone. Such poems would be hung from the statue of a hunchback. Challenging her lover to a duel because he has been unfaithful.
