Comparison Essay: Renaissance Man Vs. The Renaissance Woman
Alyssa Hixon
HI101-3
2 December 2010
Essay #2
The Renaissance Man vs. The Renaissance Woman
The Renaissance, meaning “rebirth,” was a cultural movement in which emphasis was placed on learning and life in general. New ideas in the fields of literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, and religion became prevalent; as did the search for realistic views of human life through art. Beginning in Italy, this new attitude towards education and life slowly made its way around Europe. Another new idea was the focus on individualism rather than the group as a whole. Artists began to sign their artwork to show they were proud of it, and people “prized their own sense of uniqueness and individuality, hiring artists to paint of sculpt their portraits and writers to produce verbal likenesses,” the introduction states. The Renaissance is commonly seen as the separation between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era, and the beginning of the Humanism point of view. All of the new and exciting ideas had in common one thing, learning, and as stated in the introduction “humanists all agreed on the importance of education, not just for the individual but also for society as a …show more content…
Women endured much prejudice and were seen as there to complete the tasks that were below the abilities of men. While men were out making something of themselves and proving their talent and education to the city, women were stuck at home for the purpose of childbearing and house work. Men were educated in highly intellectual areas like history, arithmetic, geography, while women were educated in the arts like poetry, music, and dance to provide entertainment. Due to the different views of men and women, and the different education they were provided, there were stereotypes about each. Men were seen as very smart and highly capable of anything, while women were seen as useless and not capable of learning to the same degree as
HI101-3
2 December 2010
Essay #2
The Renaissance Man vs. The Renaissance Woman
The Renaissance, meaning “rebirth,” was a cultural movement in which emphasis was placed on learning and life in general. New ideas in the fields of literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, and religion became prevalent; as did the search for realistic views of human life through art. Beginning in Italy, this new attitude towards education and life slowly made its way around Europe. Another new idea was the focus on individualism rather than the group as a whole. Artists began to sign their artwork to show they were proud of it, and people “prized their own sense of uniqueness and individuality, hiring artists to paint of sculpt their portraits and writers to produce verbal likenesses,” the introduction states. The Renaissance is commonly seen as the separation between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era, and the beginning of the Humanism point of view. All of the new and exciting ideas had in common one thing, learning, and as stated in the introduction “humanists all agreed on the importance of education, not just for the individual but also for society as a …show more content…
Women endured much prejudice and were seen as there to complete the tasks that were below the abilities of men. While men were out making something of themselves and proving their talent and education to the city, women were stuck at home for the purpose of childbearing and house work. Men were educated in highly intellectual areas like history, arithmetic, geography, while women were educated in the arts like poetry, music, and dance to provide entertainment. Due to the different views of men and women, and the different education they were provided, there were stereotypes about each. Men were seen as very smart and highly capable of anything, while women were seen as useless and not capable of learning to the same degree as