1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910458218503321

Autore

Giannetti Laura

Titolo

Lelia's kiss : imagining gender, sex, and marriage in Italian Renaissance comedy / / Laura Giannetti

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Canada] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2009

©2009

ISBN

1-4426-9753-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (346 p.)

Collana

Toronto Italian Studies

Disciplina

852/.05230902

Soggetti

Italian drama (Comedy) - History and criticism

Italian drama - To 1700 - History and criticism

Sex role in literature

Gender identity in literature

Sex in literature

Marriage in literature

Masculinity in literature

Femininity in literature

Theater - Italy - History

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Lelia's Kiss and Renaissance Comedy -- 1. Women in Men's Clothing: Female Cross- Dressing Plays and the Construction of Feminine Identity -- 2. Woman with Woman: 'Ma che potrà succedermi se io donna amo una Donna?' -- 3. Men in Women's Clothing: Male Cross- Dressing Plays and the Construction of Masculine Identity -- 4. Pedants, Candlemakers, and Boys: Sodomy and Comedy -- 5. The Playing of Matrimony -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Lelia's Kiss analyzes gender roles, sexuality, and marriage in the Italian Renaissance through the lens of a large number of comedies from the period, ranging well beyond the traditional canon. Focusing on the



social and cultural scripts found within these comedies, Laura Giannetti offers a new perspective on the way gender and marriage were portrayed, imagined, and critiqued on stage during the Italian Renaissance.Giannetti argues that these Renaissance plays created an often humorous dialogue with the presuppositions of their day, engaging with contemporary social norms, expectations and desires. The actions and choices of cross-dressing female and male characters challenged standard discourse and illustrated how masculinity and femininity was socially and culturally constructed. By examining representations of gender and marriage onstage, Lelia's Kiss demonstrates that Renaissance comedies not only reflected and commented on the everyday life of the time, but also interacted with it, exercising playful humour and revealing insight.