Arcangela Tarabotti

Nathalie Hester (University of Oregon)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born 24 Feb 1604
Died 28 Feb 1652
Activity 1629-1652

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Essayist
Man/ Woman of Letters

Resources

Tarabotti's Works

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Born Elena Cassandra Tarabotti in 1604, Sister Arcangela Tarabotti gained renown, both in her native Venice and elsewhere in Europe, as a relentless critic of the subjection of women and the practice of forced vocations, of which she was a victim. A formidable advocate for her own writing, despite being a cloistered nun, she saw to the publication of several polemical works, devotional texts, and a collection of familiar letters. Her corpus constitutes a highly original and compelling denunciation of the misogynist social, cultural, and political mores of the time.

The eldest daughter of a middle-class family, and born with a limp, Tarabotti was deemed unsuitable for marriage and destined for the convent. The two youngest of her six sisters were married (Medioli, “Des liaisons”).

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1807 words

Citation: Hester, Nathalie. "Arcangela Tarabotti". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 October 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13348, accessed 24 November 2024.]