ABSTRACT
Amy Sinclair
Latin in Lucrezia Marinella’s Essortationi alle Donne (1645). Subverting the voice of authority
Seventeenth-century Venetian writer Lucrezia Marinella is a pivotal figure in the history of women’s use of the pen to defend their sex. Marinella’s lesser-known contribution to the querelle des femmes, a conduct book entitled Essortationi alle donne et a gli altri se a loro saranno a grado (1645), is a work that has perplexed and divided scholars. Ostensibly addressed to a principally female audience, her vernacular prose is pervaded by Latin. This chapter argues that Marinella’s unconventional use of Latin in the Essortationi parodies and critiques the prescriptive literature of women’s conduct and the genre’s exploitation and manipulation of classical literary authorities.
