Florentine Drama for Convent and Festival

by Pulci, Antonia; Cook, James Wyatt; Cook, Barbara Collier

• ISBN13: 9780226685168
• ISBN10: 0226685160
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

A talented poet and a gifted dramatist, Antonia Pulci (1452-1501) pursued two vocations, first as a wife and later as founder of an Augustinian order. During and after her marriage, Pulci authored several sacre rappresentazioni--one-act plays on Christian subjects. Often written to be performed by nuns for female audiences, Pulci's plays focus closely on the concerns of women. Exploring the choice that Renaissance women had between marriage, the convent, or uncloistered religious life, Pulci's female characters do not merely glorify the religious life at the expense of the secular. Rather, these women consider and deal with the unwanted advances of men, negligent and abusive husbands and suitors, the dangers of childbearing, and the disappointments of child rearing. They manage households and kingdoms successfully. Pulci's heroines are thoughtful; their capacity for analysis and action regularly resolve the moral, filial, and religious crises of their husbands and admirers. Available in English for the first time, this volume recovers the long muted voice of an early and important female Italian poet and playwright.

Table of Contents

Editors' Introduction to the Series	ix
Acknowledgments	xxix
Antonia Pulci and Her Plays	3	(44)
The Other Voice, the Nobler Deed, the Womanly Concern	3	(7)
Biography	10	(11)
Literary Antecedents	21	(2)
Analysis	23	(4)
The Pulci Canon	27	(5)
Performance	32	(2)
Aftermath	34	(3)
Principles of This Translation	37	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	38	(9)
The Play of Saint Francis	47	(28)
The Play of Saint (Flavia) Domitilla	75	(28)
The Play of Saint Guglielma	103	(32)
The Play of the Prodigal Son	135	(20)
The Play of Saint Anthony the Abbot	155	(32)
The Play of Saint Theodora	187	(30)
The Play and Festival of Rosana	217	(24)
The Second Part of the Festival of Ulimentus and of Rosana	241	(36)
Index	277