The Honest Courtesan: Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice (Women in Culture and Society Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: maggior consiglio, poetic tenzone, muodo zioghemo, Veronica Franco, Domenico Venier, Maffio Venier (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This first full-length study in English of Venetian courtesan and writer Veronica Franco's life and work is an adaptation of Rosenthal's (Italian, Univ. of Southern California) dissertation. Writing from a feminist, social-historical perspective, Rosenthal demonstrates that Franco worked within the literary traditions of 16th-century Venice, using her social position and her writings to argue against a restrictive, misogynistic definition of women. Despite scurrilous attacks, Franco defended the courtesan's role as having intellectual and artistic--rather than erotic--significance. Rosenthal is strongest when presenting historical background and analyzing specific poems and letters; her theoretical summations are occasionally marred by a strained use of the jargon of feminist criticism. Recommended for scholarly collections in women's studies and in Italian literature and history.
- Ellen Finnie Duranceau, MIT Lib.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The Venetian courtesan has long captured the imagination as a female symbol of sexual license, elegance, beauty, and unruliness. What then to make of the cortigiana onesta--the honest courtesan who recast virtue as intellectual integrity and offered wit and refinement in return for patronage and a place in public life? Veronica Franco (1546-1591) was such a woman, a writer and citizen of Venice, whose published poems and familiar letters offer rich testimony to the complexity of the honest courtesan's position.

Margaret F. Rosenthal draws a compelling portrait of Veronica Franco in her cultural social, and economic world. Rosenthal reveals in Franco's writing a passionate support of defenseless women, strong convictions about inequality, and, in the eroticized language of her epistolary verses, the seductive political nature of all poetic contests. It is Veronica Franco's insight into the power conflicts between men and women--and her awareness of the threat she posed to her male contemporaries--that makes her literary works and her dealings with Venetian intellectuals so pertinent today. Combining the resources of biography, history, literary theory, and cultural criticism, this sophisticated interdisciplinary work presents an eloquent and often moving account of one woman's life as an act of self-creation and as a complex response to social forces and cultural conditions.

"A book . . . pleasurably redolent of Venice in the 16th-century. Rosenthal gives a vivid sense of a world of salons and coteries, of intricate networks of family and patronage, and of literary exchanges both intellectual and erotic."--Helen Hackett, Times Higher Education Supplement

The Honest Courtesan is the basis for the film Dangerous Beauty (1998) directed by Marshall Herskovitz. (The film was re-titled The Honest Courtesan for release in the UK and Europe in 1999.)

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226728129
• ISBN-13: 978-0226728124
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,420 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #30 in

  Books > Nonfiction > Women's Studies > History

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One smart cookie, that Veronica, April 8, 1999

By A Customer

Veronica Franco was a scholar, a skillful poet, a prostitute--and one of the most fascinating characters to emerge from Renaissance Venice. Given the current climate--in which a dim-faced bimbo can bring down a president--this book is refreshing in that it tells how Franco used sex to further the political and economic causes of her beloved home, Venice. Though the author wrote this as an academic biography, the character, personality, and wit of Franco comes through. The whole story is set in the lushly atmospheric and decadent days when Venice was on the verge of losing its dominance as an empire. Highly recommended, as is the volume of Franco's poetry just released by the University of Chicago Press.

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 5 star history; 2 star read, July 22, 2004

By	Bibliolati "historical romance junkie" - See all my reviews

This book is a must read if you're interested in 16th century Venice, Veronica Franco, or the world of the famous Venetian courtesans. It's also an EXTREMELY dry read. The book is quite obviously a doctoral dissertation, and could have used an edit to made it more accessible (something more along the lines of Stephen Ozment's books). I'm glad I read it. I tracked it down because I wanted to see just how accurate the movie Dangerous Beauty--which is LOOSELY based on this book--was. The answer is: Not very. Oh well. For those of a scholarly bent, this is a great resource book, for those looking for a light, romantic read (a la the movie) look elsewhere.

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent portrait of a lady, February 9, 2000

By	Amanda Goodwin (Placerville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Veronica Franco was a magnificent woman, and I was ecstatic to find this book after seeing the film based on her life, 'Dangerous Beauty'. Sometimes this biography is slow and verbose, but exciting nonetheless to learn all about this fascinating woman. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about 16th century Venice, women, courtesans, or someone who just wants to broaden their views.