Joining the Conversation

The dialogue was a popular genre in Renaissance times and, occurring in both Latin and vernacular language, it enjoyed a wide appeal. Smarr's study examines dialogues written by Italian and French Renaissance women, such as Catherine D'Amboise, Marguerite de Navarre, Catherine des Roches and Luisa Sigea. She explores what prompted women to write these conversations and what they wanted to say through them. In particular, she discusses the different themes and types of dialogues, from social and perhaps playful conversations, to religious or secular didactic works, placed within the context of classical models of dialogues and the prevalence of male writings during this period.