Creating with Anger: Contemplating Vendetta
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2016 Creating with Anger: Contemplating Vendetta. An Analysis of Anger in Italian and Spanish Women Writers of the Early Modern Era Luisanna Sardu Castangia Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/770 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] CREATING WITH ANGER: CONTEMPLATING VENDETTA. AN ANALYSIS OF ANGER IN ITALIAN AND SPANISH WOMEN WRITERS OF THE EARLY MODERN ERA By LUISANNA SARDU CASTANGIA A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Comparative Literature in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2016 © 2016 LUISANNA SARDU CASTANGIA All Rights Reserved CREATING WITH ANGER: CONTEMPLATING VENDETTA. AN ANALYSIS OF ANGER IN ITALIAN AND SPANISH WOMEN WRITERS OF THE EARLY MODERN ERA. by LUISANNA SARDU CASTANGIA This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Comparative Literature to satisfy the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Monica Calabritto ____________________________ ______________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Giancarlo Lombardi, Ph.D. _____________________________ ______________________________ Date Executive Officer Dr. Clare Carroll, Ph.D Dr. Lía Schwartz, Ph.D Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ABSTRACT CREATING WITH ANGER: CONTEMPLATING VENDETTA. AN ANALYSIS OF ANGER IN ITALIAN AND SPANISH WOMEN WRITERS OF THE EARLY MODERN ERA. by Luisanna Sardu Castangia In the vast gamut of human emotions, anger is one of the most complex, provocative, and enduring. From Greek philosophers working in antiquity to today’s most recent theories on emotions, most scholars agree that anger has a multifaceted nature. This near universal agreement across the barriers of time and geography stems from the following facts: in order to exist, anger involves the participation of other emotions; anger does not have an opposite; anger leads an individual to engage in an act of self-analysis and in an evaluation of other individuals; and, finally, anger inspires action to right a wrong that has been perceived as injustice. This sense of perceived injustice is what leads to the creation of vendetta for the women writers I analyze in my dissertation. They achieve their vendetta through their act of writing, as they themselves often assert. Like all vendetta, theirs grows from a sense of constant injustice and systematic subjugation. Unlike traditional vendetta however, these women, because of their status within society as women, could not take direct action to right these perceived wrongs. Their need for revenge therefore had to be fulfilled entirely through the written word, with their poems, plays, novels and short stories serving as the vehicles through which their anger could be delivered. This dissertation investigates the connection between anger and the act of writing. Specifically, it attempts to explore how anger served as a vital catalyst that prompted early modern women writers to engage in the act of writing. iv AKNOWLEDGMENT The writing of this dissertation has been one of the most challenging, yet rewarding experiences of my academic life. Without the support and guidance of the following people, this journey would never have been completed. It is to them that I owe my deepest gratitude. Professor Monica Calabritto provided me with her support throughout the dissertation process as well as my graduate studies. Her technical and editorial advice was essential to the completion and the successful defense of my dissertation. Under her guidance, I have learned innumerable lessons and garnered tremendous insight into the workings of academic research in general. I would like to deeply thank my supervisory committee: Professor Clare Carroll and Professor Lia Schwartz. Their invaluable guidance, commentary, and feedback served to bolster and strengthen the content of this dissertation. Their constant encouragement and belief in my research helped to strengthen and bolster me personally, as I worked towards the completion of this long process. A special thanks goes to my friends in the department of Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center, to my family in Italy, and to my partner in life, for their boundless love, support, encouragement, and enthusiasm. They have been always there for me, lending an ear when was I frustrated, encouraging me when I thought my research was not valuable, and pushing me onward when I thought I could not finish. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………...……1 CHAPTER 1 Anger from Classical to Modern Authorities……. ……………………………13 1.1 Emotions in Plato’s Thought: Homeric Thumos and Reasoned Thumos……………..…..15 1.2 Aristotle’s Philosophy on Emotions: Anger as a Rational Response……………...……..22 1.3 Aristotle on Women’s Emotions: the Man/Woman Opposition and Women’s Anger…………………………………………………………..………….30 1.4 Emotions in the Early Modern Era…………………………………………..……………37 1.4a Thomas Aquinas on Emotion: Anger as Irascible Emotion………………..……………38 1.4b Juan Luis Vives on Human Nature: Anger as a Violent Passion of the Soul…………....44 1.4c René Descartes on Emotions: Anger as species of hatred or aversion……….………….49 1.5 Contagious Emotions in Modern Theory of Affect……………………………………….53 1.5a Anger as a Contagious Affect……………………………………………….…………...58 CHAPTER 2 Tracing Women’s Anger: from Aristotelian tradition to Early Modern Beliefs……………………………………………………………………………..…………..64 2.1 Ancient Greek and Roman Traditional Views of Women…………………….………….66 2.2 Medieval and Early Modern Perceptions of Women’s Anger………………..…………..77 2.3 The Stirring of Early Modern Women’s Awareness……………………………………...78 CHAPTER 3 Anger and Vendetta in the poetic style of Petrarchism: Gaspara Stampa’s and Isabella di Morra’s Poetic Distortion of Desire………………….……………………………97 3.1 The Life and Death of Laura: Petrarca’s Unrequited Love, and the Idea of Desire……..103 3.2 Gaspara Stampa: Historical and Cultural Surroundings…………………………………111 3.3 Isabella di Morra: Historical and Cultural Surroundings………………………………..117 vi 3.4 Gaspara Stampa’s Use of Petrarchism: Analysis of Her Sonnets……………………….122 3.5 Isabella di Morra’s Use of Petrarchism: Analysis of Her Sonnets……………...……….129 3.6 Towards the Appropriation of Women’s Emotions: Desire and Anger in Stampa and di Morra’s Sonnets……………………………………………………………………...………131 3.7 Beyond the Physical Death: Anger, Fear, Hope, and Desire for Immortality………..….141 CHAPTER 4 Practicing Murder: María de Zayas y Sotomayor’s Propaganda of Revenge…………………………………………………………………………..………….151 4.1 Women’s Space in Early Modern Spain……………………………………….………..161 4.2 María de Zayas y Sotomayor: Historical and Cultural Background…………………….178 4.3 Il Decameron in Spain: the Influence of Boccaccio and Cervantes in Zayas’ novelas….185 4.4 Of Angry Lovers and Revenge: The Representation of Anger in Zayas’ Tales…….…..193 CHAPTER 5 Provoking Laughter, Concealing Anger: Catalina Clara Ramírez de Guzmán’s Satirical Portraits………………………………………………………………….…………205 5.1 Catalina Clara Ramírez de Guzmán: Historical and Cultural Background……..……….206 5.2 Satire in Early Modern Spain……………………………………………………………209 5.3 Catalina Ramírez de Guzmán and la poesia de circunstancias…………………………218 5.4 Catalina Ramírez de Guzmán’s Portrayals of Society...…………………………...……224 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...………235 APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………………….242 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………...255 vii INTRODUCTION TO DISSERTATION In the vast gamut of human emotions, anger is one of the most complex, provocative, and enduring. From Greek philosophers working in antiquity to today’s most recent theories on emotions, most scholars agree that anger has a multifaceted nature. This near universal agreement across the barriers of time and geography stems from the following facts: in order to exist, anger involves the participation of other emotions; anger does not have an opposite; anger leads an individual to engage in an act of self-analysis and in an evaluation of other individuals; and, finally, anger inspires action to right a wrong that has been perceived as injustice. This sense of perceived injustice is what leads to the creation of vendetta for the women writers I analyze in my dissertation. They achieve their vendetta through their act of writing, as they themselves often assert. Like all vendetta, theirs grows from a sense of constant injustice and systematic subjugation. Unlike traditional vendetta however, these women, because of their status within society as women, could not take direct action to right these perceived wrongs. Their need for revenge therefore had to be fulfilled entirely through the written word, with their poems, plays, novels and short stories serving as the vehicles through which their anger could be delivered. This dissertation investigates the connection between anger and the act of writing. Specifically, it attempts to explore how anger served as a vital catalyst that prompted early modern women writers to engage in the act of writing. In a larger context, it seeks to ascertain how the texts of some early modern