Renaissance Woman: A Sourcebook

Constructions of Femininity in England

Kate Aughterson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9781134810000
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Renaissance Woman: A Sourcebook is an invaluable collection of accounts of women and femininity in early modern England. The volume is divided thematically into nine sections, each with an accessible introduction, notes on sources and an annotated bibliography. The sections are: * Theology * Biology * Conduct * Sexuality and Motherhood * Politics and Law * Education * Work * Writing and Speaking * Feminism Renaissance Woman: A Sourcebook brings together sources ranging from medical documents and political pamphlets to sermons and the Bible, as well as literary sources. Providing a historical context to issues of gender in the Renasissance, it will be essential reading for students of the period, gender studies and cultural history.

1
THEOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

Religious belief, theological institutions and their help-meet, biblical exegesis, were central to both personal and public identities for early modern Europeans, whether Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Brownist or Quaker, man or woman. Two crucial intellectual and political revolutions had a continuing impact throughout this period in England both on the ideology of womanhood and on women’s actual lives: humanism and the Reformation. Each emphasised a radical restructuring of moral and public life, focusing, for example, on the re-evaluation of chaste marriage, rather than virginity, as central to salvation, and also on the family as a unit of ethical education for an individual’s role in life. This had a dual impact on women: it placed them within the domestic and private sphere, but it also gave them a significant function as educator and moral counsellor within the home, and as partner to their husband within a Christian marriage. Another specific focus was the emphasis on the New Testament, particularly the Pauline epistles, which advocated a spiritual life and spiritual equality between men and women, both in the eyes of God and in terms of their eventual salvation (pp.). But depending on the exegesis of preachers or commentators, they also advocated womanly submission and bodily inferiority (pp.). For many women this was a source of hope and an opportunity for individualism: for others it meant postponing independence to the after-life.

The educational programme of the humanists and the Protestant insistence on a personal reading of the vernacular Bible meant that individual and private reading and interpretation became increasingly important during this period, for both women and men. Additionally, the growing popularity of public preaching and lecturing, particularly with the increased number of churches and sects during the seventeenth century, produced a kind of democratisation of listening and debating. Women attended such lectures in large numbers, and the growth in women’s published and unpublished writing¹ suggests women participating in and responding to and even occasionally restructuring the terms and content of the debate: the examples of Ann Askew and Margaret Fell are pertinent here (pp. 18 ff., 37 ff.).² The demise of Catholicism as a national religion in England meant also the demise of the importance of various female saints (called upon in childbirth, for example) and the literal removal of the virgin Mary from churches as a figure who was worshipped alongside the male images of Christ and God. In addition, the Protestant emphasis on the male as head of household religion, replacing the wider constituency of the priest as head of his parishioners, gave symbolic religious power to the individual male householder within his own private sphere. Thus the institutionalisation of the Church of England meant that both the power of the male and the absence of virtuous public images of women helped construct an ideology of femininity which was confined to the domestic sphere, and defined in relation to the power of men.

In addition to these ideological shifts, the church and its theology were intimately linked to an increasingly centralised political state. There were increasing attempts to secure religious conformity through legislation: for example, a statute of 1543 under Henry VIII attempted to confine reading of the English Bible to men of the upper classes, thus women’s access to vernacular debate was restricted through a masculine reader. A 1552 statute under Edward VI was renewed in 1559 by Elizabeth I as the Act of Uniformity, which empowered churchwardens to exact a fine of a shilling for failure to attend church.³ The establishment of a national church under Elizabeth I, with its articles of government, catechism, prayers and practices makes the construction of woman within and through the Anglican church a crucial starting point for any examination of femininity in this period. Thus, for example, the 1604 canons, which homogenised those of Elizabeth’s reign, dictated who was to learn the catechism and when (pp. 25ff.). They also continued the formal practice of churching rituals demanded by the church for women after giving birth, which have been interpreted as both purification rituals to cleanse the woman’s material body after the filth of childbirth⁴ and as rituals celebrated by women for women, thereby establishing an equation between childbirth, maternity and a women’s subculture.⁵

The Act of Uniformity also required the published Homilies (pp. 20 ff.) to be read out regularly where the local priest was not licensed to preach on his own. The standardisation of preaching and public reading through these measures and through the appointment of young trained priests by Puritan bishops, meant that the circulation of interpretations of biblical stories, injunctions and images, which are represented here, was widespread even where men and women could not read the published texts. Finally, the existence of church courts, which had the power to enforce the Anglican canons and the Act of Uniformity, meant that local courts were actively involved in community policing,⁶ on both theological and social issues. Sexual offences were considered by church courts before the Civil War. The elision between theological and social jurisdiction in the realm of sexual transgression is also found in the texts included in this section, which slide between spiritual, social and political issues. Thus the place of woman and the ideology of femininity are embedded in metaphysical accounts of creation, alongside physiological descrip tions of her body, combined with political assertions of her subjection.

Some of the texts included in this chapter relate closely to the subjects of other chapters, for example, A sermon of whoredom and uncleanness (pp. 20 ff.) is equally relevant to chapter 4, and Whately’s A bride bush (pp. 30 ff.) to chapter 3, and can valuably be read alongside them. They are included in this chapter because they were spoken or published within the national theological framework, the Church of England, and because they claim authority from biblical exegesis.

THE BIBLE

There are two versions of the creation myth present in the Bible. The texts which Renaissance writers refer to most frequently are included here. Text from: the Authorised translation, 1611.

Genesis

Chapter 1, verses 26–7

26. And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Chapter 2, verses 18–24

18. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man shall be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him. 19. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to the very beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Chapter 3, verses 6–19

6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou? 10. And he said, I hear thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11. And he said, who told thee thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12. And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is it thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall have rule over thee. 17. And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Leviticus

Chapter 15, verses 19–24

19. And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. 20. And everything that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: everything that she sitteth upon shall be unclean. 21. And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. 22. And whosoever toucheth anything that she sat upon shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. 23. And if it be on her bed, or on anything whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it he shall be unclean until the even. 24. And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers⁷ be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.

Proverbs

Chapter 31, verses 10–28

10. Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. 11. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13. She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. 14. She is like the merchants’ ship; and bringeth her food from afar. 15. She riseth also whilst it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens. 16. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 17. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. 18. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. 19. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 20. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor: yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 21. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 22. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. 23. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. 24. She maketh fine linen and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 25. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. 26. She openeth her mouth in wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 27. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 28. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

1
Corinthians

Chapter 11, verses 3–13

3. But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of every woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God but the woman is the glory of the man. 8. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

Chapter 14, verses 27–35

27. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. 28. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. 29. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 30. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 31. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all be comforted. 32. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 34. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 35. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

Galatians

Chapter 3, verses 25–8

25. But after the faith is come, we are no longer under...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• PERMISSIONS
• INTRODUCTION
• 1. THEOLOGY
• 2. PHYSIOLOGY
• 3. CONDUCT
• 4. SEXUALITY AND MOTHERHOOD
• 5. POLITICS AND LAW
• 6. EDUCATION
• 7. WORK
• 8. WRITING AND SPEAKING
• 9. PROTO-FEMINISMS
• NOTES
• SELECT SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY