How did the Renaissance affect ideas about women? Did it affect them enough?

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History Essay

Three Queens

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How did the Renaissance affect ideas about women? Did it affect them enough?

The question is referring to the English Renaissance of the 16th and 17th century. The time from the early 16th century to the early 17th century is generally known as the ‘Elizabethan era’. This is due to the fact that it is the era associated with the reign of Elizabeth 1 who reigned from the years of 1558-1603. The Elizabethan era is seen as one of the most fascinating eras in the history of England. It was an age which seen the English Renaissance which brought an enormous cultural change to Tudor society heralding new standards in education and new values in literature. It was Elizabeth’s political and religious ideas that had an effect on Tudor society. The Elizabethan era was seen as a ‘golden age’ in English history for women and also Elizabeth’s presence at the throne was an inspiration to many poets and authors of her generation. For example, it was the era of William Shakespeare and he developed the first theatre in England called the Globe theatre. There were also several other notable Elizabethans. These include English Privateer Sir Francis Drake and also English adventurer Humphrey Gilbert. The Elizabethan era proved to be an age which was famous for its internal peace between the reformations in England and also a time where the protestant reformation was established which defended successfully against the catholic powers of the continent.

Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ and was the cultural development in England. Some historians argue that the English renaissance had little or no real link to the artistic developments and aims of the renaissance in Italy, though it has been stated that the dominant art form of the English renaissance was different to that of Italy in respect that the English Renaissances’ dominant art form was literature and it was during this renaissance that some of the best ever literature written was recorded.

Over the years some historians have asked the question “a renaissance for whom?”, and have stated that the status of women in society arguably declined during the Renaissance. Throughout this essay I aim to discover on whether or not the renaissance affected women and if so, to what extent and in what ways.

The Elizabethan woman had very few rights in the modern period. It has become apparent that the roles of the woman appeared to be confined, arguably for practical reasons. The roles of men and women tended to differ significantly in Elizabethan times. In simplistic terms during this renaissance period a woman was supposed to marry, be loyal to her husband and to give birth to children, whereas the man had to be well educated and provide for his family. This could be done by either going to an external form of work or by working on his own land. Both the role of the husband and the wife seemed as important as each other.

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A primary responsibility of women during the Renaissance was to have many children as shown in the source below.

“Henrietta Maria, the queen of King Charles I of England, was pregnant almost without intermission from 1628 to 1639.”

From the source above it is clear to see that there was a high birth rate. However, after looking at other sources from historians it is clear to see that there was also a very high child mortality rate as shown below.

“In Seventeenth-century England, only two of the six children born to Sir Ralph and Lady Margaret Verney survived to adulthood.”

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