Erasmus on Women

Although the texts in this collection are by a single author, they offer a kaleidoscope of views current in the Renaissance. Erasmus' comments on women range from ad hoc remarks in his letters to lengthy treatises on marriage and widowhood, from lively dialogues with a mixed cast of virgins and mothers, housewives and harlots, to a funeral oration for a matriarch. Because Erasmus appropriates a variety of voices, the texts offer a mixture of traditional and progressive thought.