Essay Questions

Based on Lucrezia Marinella’s “The Nobility and Excellence of Women, and the Defects and Vices”, do you agree that women are nobler than men are? If so provide a brief description to support your answer.

Largely, the author has stressed the significance of women in society. She explains that a woman is assigned more responsibilities than a man and that is why she is a special being in all aspects. For instance, the woman carries pregnancy for nine months. After that, she is the one to take care of the babies. Besides, she is tasked with the responsibility of taking care of household chores. Additional to these, she is required to take good care of her husband. Women are naturally caring beings because they believe that they were born to give service to humanity. However, men have mistaken the nobility of women for inferiority. Men think that they are superior because fewer responsibilities are assigned to them. Therefore, it is true that women are nobler than men in all aspects.

Lucrezia Marinella praises women for their roles in society. Do you think that she is using a ‘female’ symbolically?

Yes, Marinella is using females to symbolically refer to the Almighty Creator of the Universe. The roles assigned to the woman and her service to humanity is a reflection of what God does to his people on earth. For instance, the entire family cries and looks up to the mother for basic needs and emotional support. Similarly, human beings cry before God for assistance on various issues. The female has also been betrayed as merciful beings who are always forgiving. Similarly, God is merciful, forgiving and the provider of human needs. It is, therefore, without a doubt to argue that Marinella has used females as a symbol to represent God.

Explain how the author uses irony as a literary device in “The Nobility and Excellence of Women, and the Defects and Vices.” Provide two examples.

The author has employed the use of irony in her poetic work to make it more beautiful and attractive to the reader. The irony is majorly used when the situation under context goes beyond the expectations of the reader. The first irony that manifests itself in her poetic work is power. Marinella believes that women are powerful than men because of their heavy responsibilities in society. However, the number of responsibilities she bears does not measure power. The reader finds it intriguing than a woman is powerful than a man because of her responsibilities. The other irony used by the author is the inferiority complex. According to Marinella, weak and short persons have a predisposition of over reimbursing. However, this is not always factual in reality because there are many short people who have accepted that God created them to be who they are without necessarily seeking, the power to compensate for their formation.