false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1212522025m/127657.jpg 127657 2 <div>Veronica Franco (whose life is featured in the motion picture <i>Dangerous Beauty</i>) was a sixteenth-century Venetian beauty, poet, and protofeminist. This collection captures the frank eroticism and impressive eloquence that set her apart from the chaste, silent woman prescribed by Renaissance gender ideology. <br><br>As an "honored courtesan", Franco made her living by arranging to have sexual relations, for a high fee, with the elite of Venice and the many travelers&#8212;merchants, ambassadors, even kings&#8212;who passed through the city. Courtesans needed to be beautiful, sophisticated in their dress and manners, and elegant, cultivated conversationalists. Exempt from many of the social and educational restrictions placed on women of the Venetian patrician class, Franco used her position to recast "virtue" as "intellectual integrity," offering wit and refinement in return for patronage and a place in public life.<br><br>Franco became a writer by allying herself with distinguished men at the center of her city's culture, particularly in the informal meetings of a literary salon at the home of Domenico Venier, the oldest member of a noble family and a former Venetian senator. Through Venier's protection and her own determination, Franco published work in which she defended her fellow courtesans, speaking out against their mistreatment by men and criticizing the subordination of women in general. Venier also provided literary counsel when she responded to insulting attacks written by the male Venetian poet Maffio Venier. <br><br>Franco's insight into the power conflicts between men and women and her awareness of the threat she posed to her male contemporaries make her life and work pertinent today. <br><br><br><br></div> 1361603 15 2 1998 Poems and Selected Letters (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe) total:26|5:15|4:9|3:2|2:0|1:0| 26 117 45 4 5 0 false false Tue Jan 20 18:04:40 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 18:05:53 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Fri Jul 04 08:47:12 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 18 05:17:55 -0800 2008 Her letters and poems give a magnificent glimpse into the Life and Loves of one Courtesan of Italy.]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 27 21:31:52 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 21:32:20 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Oct 08 09:28:57 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 09:29:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 27 11:14:26 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 27 11:14:26 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 11 07:30:08 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 07:30:08 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Oct 21 22:55:18 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 22:55:18 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Oct 09 21:12:17 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 21:12:17 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 31 19:46:22 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 19:46:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 24 10:56:39 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 10:56:39 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jul 12 20:36:15 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 20:36:20 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 08:21:27 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 08:21:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu May 28 09:32:38 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 09:32:38 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Apr 17 06:29:52 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 06:30:01 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Mar 13 14:13:33 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 14:13:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Mar 09 09:36:32 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 09:36:32 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 15:33:23 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 15:33:23 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jan 24 05:35:08 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 05:35:08 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 20 19:18:33 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 19:18:33 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jan 19 21:27:37 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 21:27:37 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=127657