Corbaccio
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"The female is an imperfect animal, stirred by thousands of pleasures both unpleasant and abominable." --Corbaccio, Boccaccio. |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Il Corbaccio (dated to either 1355 or 1365, English: "The Crow") is a story by Giovanni Boccaccio.
Whether the story's theme of misogyny is a detailed study of the attitude or a direct misogynistic expression of the author has long been a subject of debate.
The phrase "The female is an imperfect animal" (foemina est animal imperfectum) comes from Summa Theologica.
Scholars who consider the text to be autobiographical base their interpretation on connecting aspects of the text to events in the author's life. The opposing view accepts the author's own reference to the work as a "trattato", or a philosophical treatment. As stated by scholar Anthony K. Cassell, "the formal elements of the treatise are part of a wide artistic tradition and contest autobiographical intention and interpretation." The work is regarded by some scholars as late medieval in character, others as early renaissance.
See also
