Lesson #5:
A Female on Marriage – Is She Right?
Text: Unyoked is Best! Happy the Woman Without a Man – Bijns
NOTE: This lesson may take several class periods depending upon students’ prowess in dictionary work and paraphrasing.
1. Divide students into small groups trying to scatter stronger readers among the groups. If you choose to mix gender within the groups, be sure you have at least 2 students of each gender in a group so no one will be hesitant to state their views on gender matters. Make sure each group has dictionaries.
2. Read aloud the following information:
The poem you’ll be looking at was written by a Dutch woman by the name of Anna Bijns. As you’ll see, Bijns’ writing is very different from the men’s writing we’ve seen thus far. So different in fact, that her publisher, Jacob van Lieshout, was killed for publishing her first poetry collection. This particular poem was part of a collection of poetry written between the 1520s/1540s. Her intended audience appears to be primarily female.
3. Pass out UNYOKED IS BEST! HAPPY THE WOMAN WITHOUT A MAN and ask students to paraphrase Bijns’ words like they’ve seen in previous lessons. Float through the room while they are doing this to help when groups are unable to decipher a passage. Encourage the students to read the piece out loud line by line as they paraphrase – the ear often puts things together better than the eye.
4. Once the students have completed the paraphrasing, conduct a scored discussion with representatives from the groups covering these general questions:
- In Bijns’ opinion, is marriage a positive thing for a woman?
- Like Alberti’s view on married women, Bijns states that a single woman should be "spotless" and pure. Do you think her reason for saying this is the same as Alberti’s? Why or why not? Are men held to the same standard [note "nymphs of Venus" passage]? Do you think Bijns even realizes there is a double standard?
- Other authors we’ve read have talked at length about women’s flaws – wastefulness, wantonness, etc. Here Bijns described men’s flaws. What are they?
- Both Niccholes and Bijns speak of the "yoke" of marriage. Based upon what you’ve read, upon whom do you think that yoke weighs heavier – men or women? Why? Back up your statements with passages from the texts.
- Bijns’ publisher was executed for publishing her poetry collection, yet Bijns was not killed although she was the author. What does that tell you about the society she lived in?
QUESTION FOR THOUGHT: Can there really exist an unbiased historical account, or anything else, for that matter?
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