Arcangela Tarabotti

Nathalie Hester (University of Oregon)
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Born Elena Cassandra Tarabotti in 1604, Sister Arcangela Tarabotti gained renown, both in her native Venice and elsewhere in Europe, as a relentless critic of the subjection of women and the practice of forced vocations, of which she was a victim. A formidable advocate for her own writing, despite being a cloistered nun, she saw to the publication of several polemical works, devotional texts, and a collection of familiar letters. Her corpus constitutes a highly original and compelling denunciation of the misogynist social, cultural, and political mores of the time.

The eldest daughter of a middle-class family, and born with a limp, Tarabotti was deemed unsuitable for marriage and destined for the convent. The two youngest of her …

1807 words

Citation: Hester, Nathalie. "Arcangela Tarabotti". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 October 2015 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13348, accessed 28 March 2024.]

13348 Arcangela Tarabotti 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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