Roman Girlhood and the Fashioning of Femininity

Informationen zum Autor Lauren Caldwell is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. Klappentext Elite women in the Roman world were often educated, socially prominent, and even relatively independent. Yet the social regime that ushered these same women into marriage and childbearing at an early age was remarkably restrictive. In the first book-length study of girlhood in the early Roman Empire, Lauren Caldwell investigates the reasons for this paradox. Through an examination of literary, legal, medical, and epigraphic sources, she identifies the social pressures that tended to overwhelm concerns about girls' individual health and well-being. In demonstrating how early marriage was driven by a variety of concerns, including the value placed on premarital virginity and paternal authority, this book enhances an understanding of the position of girls as they made the transition from childhood to womanhood. Zusammenfassung This book examines the position of girls in Roman imperial society. It shows how the pressures that propelled elite girls into marriage at an early age shaped their education! affected their mobility! and had consequences for their health and medical care. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction; 1. Formal education and socialization in virtue; 2. Protecting virginity; 3. Medical perspectives on puberty; 4. The pressure to marry; 5. The wedding; Epilogue.

Product details

• Authors: Lauren Caldwell, Lauren (Wesleyan University Caldwell, Caldwell Lauren, Erik Gunderson
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.12.2014
• EAN: 9781107041004
• ISBN: 978-1-107-04100-4
• No. of pages: 196
• Subjects: Guides > Self-help, everyday life > Family; Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; HISTORY / Ancient / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Women Authors, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Ancient Rome, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, Gender studies: women, Age groups: children, Gender studies: women and girls, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, BCE to c 500 CE