Lucrezia Borgia

Cesare Borgia was born on September 13th, 1475 as the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia. Over the span of his life, Cesare would become a nobleman, politician, and even cardinal, being the first man to resign from the College of Cardinals. He showed himself as a truly gifted individual in all aspects of his life, so much as to even influence Machiavelli enough to be the inspiration for The Prince. Born in to a time when the Papacy was at the height of its spiritual and…

Yet, despite all of these examples of women as subservient, women did not lose all their power under this abuse. Some wealthy women were able to “break the mold of subjugation to achieve at the least, fame, if not independence.” For instance Lucrezia Borgia, influenced the social scene in Ferrara as a famous patron of the arts. Isabella d’Este, an educated and musically talented woman, also held political and social influence in Mantua. In fact, because of her, Mantua was known as a “major…

Two of the easiest poems in this collection to find the feminist message in are “Cinderella” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Sexton takes these two timeless tales and picks out the ways in which they cause readers to condescend women. She does this deftly and magically in these poems and provokes deep thoughts on the ways women are portrayed in the original tales. Sexton does her best to take the focus of her poem “Cinderella” off of how ugly the step-sisters and move it to how black…

Women had a better chance of playing a greater role in society if they came from a family in the upper class or were married into a wealthy family(Women in the Renaissance, n.d.). A prime example of a woman who broke through this barrier was Lucrezia Borgia (Women in the Renaissance, n.d.). She was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI. Alexander VI used her to gain political power and she became famous through this concept (Women in the Renaissance, n.d.). One of the most intelligent women to come…

Celebration. To the standard parts in her developing collection, she included to a great extent overlooked musical dramas, in which the requesting driving parts finally found a fitting mediator; Donizetti's Maria Stuarda (1971 in San Francisco) and Lucrezia Borgia (1972 in Vancouver), Rosalinde in Fledermaus and Massenet's Esclarmonde (1973 and 1974 individually in San Francisco), Leonora in Il trovatore (1975 in San Francisco) and The Cheerful Dowager (1976 in Vancouver), Puccini's Suor…

Women’s Roles in the Renaissance “While “feminism” has changed over time, it’s different manifestations nonetheless share a common motive: the desire to improve the condition of women” (Ross 3). The Renaissance women were wives, mothers, and daughters. As they lived within these various confines, they maintained very little to no control over their lives. They were relegated to positions that were deemed suitable for their gender. Many of these women longed for something more. They were no…

In this study, we will be examining Gaetano Donizetti’s 1835 bel canto opera Lucia Di Lammermoor and its treatment of the title character’s mental disorder, from a feminist perspective. Lucia’s madness is hinted at multiple times during the unfolding of the story and as the dramatic tension rises, but it has fully developed by the time when, in the midst of the wedding celebrations in Act III, Raimondo appears and tells the assembled guests that Lucia has murdered her bridegroom, Arturo. Lucia’s…