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Creating Women: An Anthology of Readings on Women in Western Culture, Volume 2 (Renaissance to the Present)
Jean Gould Bryant, Florida State University
Linda Bennett Elder, Valdosta State University

ISBN-10: 0137596308
ISBN-13: 9780137596300

Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2005
Format: Paper; 352 pp
Published: 08/23/2004

Suggested retail price: $58.67
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Creating Women is a rich, interdisciplinary, anthology of primary source material examining women's participation in and contributions to western culture over the centuries. It documents prevalent concepts of the nature of women and women's roles and status in diverse cultures, geographic locations, and periods of western civilization. Narrative framework, biographical vignettes, and introductions to documents carefully place women and their achievements within the social context in which they lived and worked.

  • Examines women's participation in culture during the major periods of western civilization—Pays particular attention to how societal changes and significant historical events affected women's roles and cultural contributions. Shows how change often affected men and women in significantly different ways.

    • Helps students understand how gender has shaped the experiences and expectations of human beings throughout western civilization.

  • Interdisciplinary approach—Presents primary source documents from a variety of disciplines, and highlights women's achievements. Narrative and introductions carefully establish links between women's achievements in different disciplines and highlight patterns of female creativity in particular fields.

    • Piques students' interest by drawing on various cultural fields such as religion, the visual arts, literature or music, and discussing the multi-talented “renaissance” women with significant achievements in a number of fields.

  • Explores concepts of womanhood and essential differences between men and women, showing how the “woman question” was a central philosophical, political, and practical issue in western civilization.

    • Introduces students to the concept of gender as a significant factor shaping people's lives and encourages discussion about the importance of gender (and other factors such as class, race, religion) in their own experiences. Sharpens students' critical and analytical skills by requiring them to factor these issues into an analysis of western civilization.

  • Broad selection of documents by and about women from prehistory to the present—Reveals women's status in society and their roles in shaping significant cultural developments in religion, the visual and performing arts, literature and thought.

    • Enables instructors to easily incorporate women's experiences and contributions into their courses. Portrays women as active participants and leaders in all periods of western civilization.

  • Narrative framework for the primary source readings assumes no prior knowledge of the material.

    • Accessible for students with introductions that clearly explain the significance of each document and person or group; primary sources let students and instructors know what creative women thought about their lives and work; and how women dealt with societal expectations of women's roles and abilities.

  • Numerous visual aids include maps, timelines, and charts—These clarify the geographic locale, historical context, and time frame of documents and highlight patterns of social/political organization that characterize major shifts in culture.

    • Link women and their achievements with more familiar historical events covered in most texts. Instructors can use these timelines as an organizational tool for chapter materials. Students will use them to help identify the time periods under discussion and understand major events and transitions in human culture.

  • Study questions for each group of documents.

    • Prompt class discussions and provide ideas for further exploration and test questions.

  • Brief annotated bibliography and list of suggested media resources at the end of each chapter.

    • Allows instructors to develop additional lecture material and enrich classes with music, art, archaeological evidence, and video excerpts from dance and theatre.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

 

Part I Women in Early Modern Europe

 

Chapter 1 The Italian Renaissance

The Renaissance Lady: The Ideal and Two Examplars

    Baldesar Castiglione (1478—1529)

        The Renaissance Lady from The Book of the Courtier

    Isabella d’Este (1474—1539):Model Renaissance Lady

        Isabella to Cardinal Luigi d’Aragona, 13 January 1519

        Lorenzo da Pavia to Isabella, 26 July 1501

    Sofonisba Anguissola (1532—1625): Renaissance Artist

        Letter from Sofonisba Anguissola to Pope Pius IV, 16 September 1561

        Letter from Pope Pius IV to Anguissola, from Rome, 15 October 1561

        Document Establishing Sofonisba’s Dowry, Issued by Philip II

Women Humanists and Poets

    Laura Cereta (1469—1499): Humanist

        Excerpts from Letter to Bibulus Sempronius, 13 January 1488

    Vittoria Colonna (1492—1547): Poet

        “Aspiration”

    Gaspara Stampa (1523?—1554): Poet

        “She Dictates Her Own Epitaph”

    Veronica Franco (1546—1591): Poet

        A Warning to a Mother Considering Turning Her Daughter into a Courtesan

From Noble Amateurs to Professional Performers:Women in Theater and Music

    The Revival of Italian Drama: Theater at Court and Popular Theater

    Isabella Andreini (1562—1604) and the Commedia dell’Arte

        Letter to Duke Vicenzo di Gonzaga of Mantua, from Bologna, 27 November 1598

    The Emergence of Professional Female Musicians

        Urbani Dispatch to Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, 26 June 1581

        Alessandro Striggio to Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, 29 July 1584

Theater and Music in Italian Convents

    Antonia Pulci (1452—1501)

        The Play of Saint (Flavia) Domitilla

    Convent Music

        The Choir of Convent San Vito, 1594

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 2 The Age of Religious Ferment

Women in the Protestant Reformation

    Martin Luther (1483—1546)

        Lecture on “Genesis”

    John Calvin (1509—1564)

        Excerpt from The Institutes

    Argula von Grumbach (1492—ca.1568)

        Letter to Frederick the Wise

    Katherina Schütz Zell (1498—1562)

        Autobiographical Notes on Her Calling

    Elizabeth I, Rex (r.1558—1603)

    Jeanne d’Albret (1528—1572)

        Letter to Cardinal de Armagnac

    English Female Martyr Elizabeth Young

        Inquisition Examinations of Elizabeth Young

Women in the Catholic Reformation

    Teresa of Avila (1515—1582)

        “The Circumstances Surrounding the Foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph in Medina del Campo”

    Maria Cazalla

        On the Inquisition

Jews and the English Reformation

    Sara Lopez (1550—159?)

        A Petition to Elizabeth I

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 3 The Northern Renaissance

Women Writers of France

    Marguerite of Navarre (1492—1549) 49

        “First Day. Novel VII” of The Heptameron, Vol. I

    Louise Labé (ca.1520—1566)

        Labé’s Sonnets

        Dedicatory Epistle to Mademoiselle Clémence de Bourges, 25 July 1555

Women in Renaissance England

    Elizabeth I of England (1553—1603)

        “The Doubt of Future Foes,” circa 1577

        Elizabeth’s Response to Parliament’s Petition that She Marry, 10 February, 1559

        The Queen’s Speech to her Army on the Eve of the Spanish Invasion, 1558

    Women and Renaissance Drama

    Elizabeth Tanfield Cary (1585—1639): Playwright

        The Tragedy of Mariam, The Fair Queen of Jewry, 1613

    The Woman Question in England

        Jane Anger, her Protection for Women (1589)

        Mary Tattlewell and Joan Hit-him-home, “The women’s sharp revenge” (1640)

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 4 Artists,Musicians, and Performers in the Baroque Era

Women and Culture in Italy

    Artemisia Gentileschi (1593—ca1653): Baroque Artist

        Letters to Don Antonio Ruffo, 1649

    Women and Music: A Cluster of Female Creativity

    Francesca Caccini (1587—ca1630):Medici Composer and Singer

        “Maria, dolce Maria” from Il Primo Libro

        Angelo Grillo, Letter to Francesca Caccini, 1612, from Venice

        Caccini to Michelangelo Buonarroti, 18 December 1614, from Florence

    Barbara Strozzi (1619—1664?): Venetian Composer and Singer

        Strozzi’s Dedications

        “Merce di voi” (Thanks to You)

    Venetian Ospedali-Conservatorios: The First Music Schools for Girls

        Burney’s Description of the Venetian Conservatories, August 1770

    Convent Musicians and Church Restrictions

        Council of Trent Decree Regulating Female Religious, 20 November 165

        Punishments Ordered by Carlo Borromeo, 30 March 1571

        Orders for the “Destruction of Vices and Maintenance of Virtue” at the Convent of Maria Annunciata,Milan, 1622

        Account of Cosimo III de’ Medici’s Visit to Santa Radegonda, 25 June 1664

Women and Cultural Change during the Reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV

    Elizabeth Jacquet De La Guerre (1664/67—1729):Musician

        Description of Elisabeth Jacquet from the Mercure Galant, July 1677

        Dedication of “Les Jeux à l’honneur de la victoire” to Louis XIV, 1691

        Dedication of “Pieces for the Harpsichord and Sonatas for the Violin and for the Harpsichord,” 1707

    Women on Stage: Ballet

        Marie Camargo’s Paris Debut, 1726

        Camargo’s Innovations

        Marie Sallé in “Pygmalion,” 1734

    Rosalba Carriera (1675—1757): Rococo Portrait Artist

        “Concerning Feminine Studies”

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 5 Writers and Intellectuals in the Baroque Era

Learned Women from Continental Europe and the Americas

    Anna Maria van Schurman (1607—1678): Learned Woman and Pietist Leader

        Whether the Study of Letters Is Fitting for a Christian Woman (1641)

        Eukleria (1673)

    Anne Bradstreet (1612—1672): First English Poet of the New World

        “The Prologue”

        “Before the Birth of One of My Children”

    Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz (1648—1695): The New World’s First Major Writer

        The Answer/La Respuesta (1691)

England’s “Female Wits”

    Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623—1674)

        Excerpts from Bell in Campo

    Aphra Behn (1640—1689)

        “Francisca’s Song” from The Dutch Lover (1673)

        “Preface” to The Luckey Chance, or an Alderman’s Bargain (1686)

    Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661—1720)

        “The Introduction”

        “The Unequal Fetters”

Suggested Readings

 

Part II Women and Culture, 1750—1920

 

Chapter 6 Age of the Enlightenment and Revolutions

Artists in the Eighteenth Century

    Angelica Kauffmann (1741—1807): Swiss Neo-Classical Artist

        Abbé Winckelmann to Mr. Franck, 16 July 1764

        A Critic’s View of “Hector and Andromache,” the Painting that Ensured Kauffmann’s Admission to the British Royal Academy

        Goethe’s Reflections on Kauffmann, Summer 1788

        Anna Amalia to Angelica from Naples, 7th of September, 1789

        Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun on Kauffmann and Her Work

    Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755—1842): French Portrait Artist

        Excerpts from Vigée-Lebrun’s Memoirs, “Souvenirs”

The Enlightenment, Revolutions, and Women

    Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712—1778): French Philosopher

        The Education ofWoman from Emíle, 1762

    Judith Sargent Murray (1751—1820): American Poet, Essayist, and Playwright

        “Desultory Thoughts” by Constantia, October 22, 1784

        “On the Equality of the Sexes”

    Olympe de Gouges (1748—1793): French Writer and Royalist

        The Rights ofWoman, Paris, 1791

    Mary Wollstonecraft (1759—1797): English Author and Feminist

        A Vindication of the Rights ofWoman (1792)

    Germaine de Staël (1766—1817): French Writer

        Corinna; or, Italy (1807)

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 7 The Victorian Ideal:Writers and Musicians

Literary Women

    Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley (1797—1851): British Writer

        Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus (1818)

    Charlotte Brontë (Currer Bell) (1816—1855): British Novelist

        Excerpts from Shirley: A Tale

    George Sand (1804—1876): French Novelist

        Excerpt from My Life, Sand’s Autobiography

        Excerpt from Indiana

    Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825—1911): American Poet and Novelist

        “Aunt Chloe’s Politics”

        “An Appeal to My Country Women”

Women and Music

    Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805—1847): German Musician

        Excerpts from Mendelssohn Family Letters and Journals

        Letter from Fanny to Felix, Berlin, 9 July 1846

        Felix Gives His Blessings to Fanny

    Clara Schumann (1819—1896): German Composer and Concert Pianist

        Clara and Robert Schumann: Dual-Career Couple

        Clara’s Thoughts about Music and Her Talent

        Coping with Robert’s Mental Illness

        Celebrating Her Career as a Concert Pianist, 1878

    Women Musicians: Seizing Control of Their Artistic Lives

        “The Vienna Lady Orchestra,” New York Times, 13 September 1871

    A Late Nineteenth Century Debate: Can Women Become Composers?

        George Upton, Why Women are Incapable of Being Composers

        Helen J. Clarke, “Why Has It Been Difficult for Women to Compose?”

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 8 The Victorian Ideal: The Performing and Visual Arts

Women on Stage

    Marie Taglioni (1804—1884), Italian Prima Ballerina

        Times (London) 3 June 1840: Review of La Gitana

        Times (London) 14 July 1845: Review of the Pas de Quatre

    Charlotte Cushman (1816—1876): American Actress

        English Critic James Sheridan Knowles’s Review of Cushman’s Romeo

        Cushman on George Sand

        Fundraising for the U. S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War

        Cushman’s Farewell New York Performance,Macbeth, 1874

Sculptors and Artists

    Harriet Hosmer (1830—1908): American Neoclassical Sculptor

        Hosmer to Wayman Crow, 12 October 1854

        Lydia Maria Child, Letter to the Boston Transcript about Hosmer’s Zenobia

        Hosmer’s Philosophy of Art

    Edmonia Lewis (1843?—ca.1911): American Sculptor

        “A Negro Sculptress,” Rome, February 1866

        The Revolution on Edmonia Lewis

        Her Cleopatra

    Rosa Bonheur (1822—1899): French Animal Artist

        Her Early Years and Discovery of Art

        Excerpts from Bonheur’s (Auto)biography

    Mary Cassatt (1844—1926): American Impressionist

        Mary Cassatt to Clarence Gihon, 13 September 1905

        Mary Cassatt to Colonel Paine, 28 February 1915

        Mary Cassatt to Louisine Havemeyer, 5 July 1915

        Mary Cassatt to Bertha Palmer, 11 October 1892

Women at the Chicago World’s Fair, 1893

        Women’s Congresses at Chicago World’s Fair, 1893

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 9 Challenging Orthodoxy:Women and Religion in America

Women Founders and Leaders

    Mother Ann Lee (1736—1784): Founder of the Shakers

        Shaker Eunice Goodrich Shares a Recollection of Mother Ann Lee, 1816

    Anna White (1831—1910): Shaker Eldress and Reformer

        Shakerism. Its Meaning and Message (1904)

    Phoebe Worrall Palmer (1807—1874): Holiness Leader

        Promise of the Father (1859)

    Ellen Gould Harmon White (1827—1915): Seventh-Day Adventist Founder and Prophetess

        White’s Vision of the Sabbath

    Mary Baker Edy (1821—1910): Founder, Church of Christ, Scientist

        Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures

The Struggle for Autonomy, Authority, and Inclusion

    Jarena Lee (1783—18?): African Methodist-Episcopal Visionary and Preacher

        Religious Experiences of Jarena Lee

    Women in the Black Baptist Church

    Virginia Broughton (185?—190?): Black Baptist Leader

        Twenty Years’ Experience of a Missionary (1907)

    Hannah Greenebaum Solomon (1858—1942): Jewish Leader

        Excerpts from Solomon’s Autobiography

        “Women Ministers in Session,” Chicago World’s Fair, 21 May 1893

Feminist Critiques of Religion

    Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793—1880): Quaker Minister, Abolitionist, and Feminist

        “Sermon, Delivered at Cherry Street Meeting,” Philadelphia, 4 November 1849

    Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815—1902): Feminist

        The Woman’s Bible (1895—98)

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860—1935): Author, Feminist, and Social Critic

        His Religion and Hers (1923)

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 10 The New Woman and the Performing Arts

Pioneers of Modern Dance

    Loïe Fuller (1862—1928)

        Excerpts from Fuller’s Autobiography

        Fuller Talks about Her Art in an Interview,March 1896

        Fuller’s Activities after Her Dance Career Ends

    Isadora Duncan (1878—1927)

        Dance of the Future

    Ruth St. Denis (1879—1968)

        From Her Autobiography

        “The Dance as Life Experience”

The New Woman in Theater

    Elizabeth Robins (1862—1952): American Actress, Playwright, Novelist

        The Convert (1907)

    Edith Craig (1869—1947): British Suffragist and Theater Pioneer

        Edy Craig, “Producing a Play”

        Christopher St. John Laments Craig’s Lack of Recognition

    A Pageant of Great Women

        Cicely Hamilton on Edy and the Pageant of Great Women

        Advertisement for Pageant of Great Women

        A Pageant of Great Women

    The Pioneer Players

        Purpose of the Pioneer Players

Suggested Readings

 

Part III Women and Culture in the Twentieth Century

 

Chapter 11 New Directions in Literature and the Arts

Music

    Ethel Smyth (1858—1944): British Composer, Author, and Suffragist

        Smyth’s Reflections on Men,Women, and Music

    American Musicians Organize

        “Women Musicians Urge Equal Rights,” 1938

Literature

    Virginia Woolf (1882—1941): English Writer and Feminist

        Excerpts from A Room of One’s Own (1929)

    Zora Neale Hurston (1891—1960): American Author and Folklorist

        Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

Visual Art

    Käthe Kollwitz (1867—1945): German Graphic Artists

        Excerpts from Kollwitz’s Diary and Letters

    Frida Kahlo (1907—1954):Mexican Artist

        To Art Historian, Antonio Rodríguez

        Letter to Lucienne Bloch, 14 February 1938

        Frida Speaking about Her Art

        Frida as Remembered by Her Students

        Excerpts from Her Diary

    Georgia O’Keeffe (1887—1986): American Painter

        Autobiographical Excerpts about Her Work from Exhibition Catalogs

        Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, 10 February 1944

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 12 Mid-Century Cultural Ferment

Literature

    Simone de Beauvoir (1908—1986): French Philosopher,Writer, and Feminist

        The Second Sex (1949)

Visual Art

    Margaret Bourke-White (1904—1971): American Photojournalist and Author

        Gandhi and Non-Violence in a Nuclear World, 1948

    Barbara Hepworth (1903—1975): British Sculptor

        Excerpts from Hepworth’s Pictorial Autobiography, 1970

Dance

    Martha Graham (1894—1991): American Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher

        Graham’s Thoughts about the New Modern Dance, 1941

        Excerpts from Graham’s Autobiography, 1991

    Katherine Dunham (1909- ): American Dance Pioneer and Anthropologist

        Dunham on Ethnology and Dance

        An Interview with Dunham, 1938

        A “Conversation with Katherine Dunham,” 1956

    Maria Tallchief (1925- ): American Prima Ballerina

        Excerpts from Tallchief ’s Autobiography, 1997

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 13 Reclaiming Their Heritage:Women and Religion

Feminist The(a)ologies and Ethics

    Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936-)

        “Theological Reflections on Women-Church”

    Ada María Isasi-Díaz (1943-)

        Mujerista Biblical Interpretation from “La Palabra de Dios Nosotras- The Word of God in Us”

    Carter Heyward (1946-)

        Poem and Commentary from Touching Our Strength

    Rita M. Gross

        Excerpts from Buddhism after Patriarchy

Women-Centered Interpretive Frameworks for Reclaiming Women’s History in Religion

    Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (1938-)

        Excerpts from “Changing the Paradigms”

    Riffat Hassan

        Excerpts from Interview with Riffat Hassan

Diverse Interpretative Frameworks for Portraying Contemporary Women’s Religious Traditions

    Savitri L. Bess

        Excerpts from The Path of the Mother

    Susannah Heschel

        Laura Geller, “Reactions to a Woman Rabbi”

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 14 Feminism, Social Change, and Female Creativity

Art

    Judy Chicago (1939-): Artist, Author, and Feminist

        A Conversation with Judy Chicago, 1997—1998

    National Museum of Women in the Arts,Washington, D.C.

        A Conversation with Wilhelmina (Billie) Holladay, NMWA Founder, 2002

Music

    Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (1939-): Pulitzer Prize-winning Composer

        Interview with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, 2001

    Peanuts Gallery

Challenging Gender Barriers in the Arts

        Anna Lelkes and the Vienna Philharmonic: Interview with Harpist Lelkes, 1997

    The Guerrilla Girls (1985-): Conscience of the Art World

        “Guerrilla Girls Bare All”

Literature and Theater

    Christiane Rochefort (1917—1998):Writer, Social Critic, and Feminist

        “Are Women Writers Still Monsters?” (1975)

    Women’s Experimental Theatre, New York (1976—1985)

        The Daughters Cycle: Electra Speaks

Suggested Readings

 

Chapter 15 Contemporary Voices

Art

    Maya Lin: (1959-): Sculptor, Architect, and Designer

        Selections from Maya Lin’s Boundaries (2000)

    Amalia Mesa-Bains: (1946-): Artist, Educator, and Activist

        Venus Envy Ch. III: Cihuatlampa: The Place of the Giant Women (1997)

Dance and Film

    Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (1939-): Choreographer and Founder of Urban Bush Women

        A Conversation with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, 1999

    Deepa Mehta (1950-): Indian/Canadian Filmmaker

        An Interview with Deepa Mehta, 1993

Literature

    Sheila Ortiz Taylor (1939-): Poet and Novelist

        Imaginary Parents. A Family Autobiography (1996)

    Toni Morrison (1931-): Novelist and Nobel Prize Winner

        Morrison’s “Nobel Prize Lecture,” 7 December 1993

Suggested Readings

 

Bibliography

Creating Women is an invaluable resource for students and teachers in a broad range of courses. Its primary sources facilitate researching women's diverse contributions to Western culture. Exploration of women's creative endeavors from the Upper Paleolithic era to the present invites a powerful rethinking of the making of Western civilization. This expansive scope makes a compelling argument that women have been key in the development of culture from its very beginnings. It also reveals the; centrality of gender as a crucial element of social organization and human experiences.

Documents are well situated within more familiar time frames and movements; yet clarify the often-restrictive nature of these categories relative to women's experiences. Clear and concise introductions frame selections with pertinent details for contextualizing specific texts and images. While some individuals and selections will be familiar to many readers, others will represent new discoveries in the ongoing task of recovering forgotten women and their contributions.

Both Volumes I and II are sensitive to the diversity of women's voices and experiences in Western culture, and celebrate tire accomplishments of women from a broad range of backgrounds as well as the ingenuity of many whose circumstances worked against their talents and ambitions. The selections are lively and engaging, and often give very personal glimpses into both the societal creation of women and women's creativity.

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