Female Agency Under Patriarchal Influence in Art: An Analysis of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggerio dall’isola d’Alcina
Abstract
This paper analyzes the restrictions of female agency experienced within a strict patriarchal society in 17th century Italy by examining the plot of La Liberazione di Ruggerio dall’isola d’Alcina by Francesca Caccini to show the relationship of her defiance of gender roles and the political context of the Medici court to produce this operatic work La Liberazione. This analysis seeks to reveal the dynamic between good and evil personified, used to represent the struggle for equality between the sexes during this time and the female characters of La Liberazione. The plot of this operatic work details personal strife she faced as a composer as well as served as a powerful political and social message to the viewers. The opera explores the relationship that women have with power through an allegory of divine war between good and evil. Caccini exemplifies the role of these women in the plot of the story by giving each magical abilities, which acme to the greater liberation of the key characters to conclude the piece. Her story reflects exaggerated themes of the quiet fight for agency that women at the time experienced. The creation of this opera was commissioned by two female patronages of the Medici court, who also sought to legitimize their power through the arts. This paper seeks to reveal the true intention of this opera by analyzing the philosophical and political context regarding Caccini’s life that served as a catalyst for this production. Through analysis of plot, political context, and biographical accounts of Francesca Caccini’s life, the aim is to argue that La Liberazione should be interpreted as a landmark feminist opera of classical music.
Introduction
Opera has long been a medium to express stories that appeal to the aristocratic class. Access to the arts has been restricted by wealth, especially before and during the classical music period. The Medici Court of the 17th century is no exception. The influence of this opera, La Liberazione, reflects the curated impression of prowess demanded by the royal patrons of this piece. The implications of female empowerment expressed in the dialogue, plot, and subtle subversions of stereotypes convey a message to its viewer; a true leader defies their gender and rules with an undeniable essence of virtue. The analysis of this opera seeks to unveil its purpose of instating feminine power by careful consideration of the opera and its patrons.
Histography of Medici Court Grand Ducal Regime and Aesthetic Symbolism
Gabrielle Langdon explores the lives of the women in the Medici family in her publication Medici Women: Portraits of Power, Love and Betrayal from the Court of Cosimo I. Langdon examines the painted portraits of these women and the relationship between appearance and power. She draws parallels between the art’s imagery and historical implications for each detail. Her analysis delves into the complexities of symbolism and sternly states, “all genres of portraiture for women of Cosimo’s court … a strong element of propaganda informs every one.” Her interpretations of women in Medici royal portraits furthered the discussion of the role of females in advancing political agenda. Another layer of artistic expression that Langdon highlights is the importance of patronage. In some cases, the portraits were commissioned by the women themselves, and these artworks depicted different aspects of them compared to the art commissioned by their fathers or husbands. The ideals that these women sought to portray may have defied the existing expectations. Langdon notes that the difference of details that implicate varying expressions of female agency were not lost on the viewers of these works at the time.
Janet Cox-Rearick, in her paper Power-Dressing at the Courts of Cosimo de’Medici and Francois I: The “moda alla Spagnola” of Spanish Consorts Eleonore d’Aitriche and Eleonora di’Toledo, writes on the importance of appearance in political rivalry. Cox-Rearick remarks on the fight for power expressed through fashion between France and Italy in royal events. She focuses on the consorts of King Francois as a message of Spanish pride and disapproval of her forced marriage to him. The usage of fashion as an expression of agency is reflected in performance art and political assertion alike. The implication of wearing the attire of her home country rather than adoption of her husband’s culture shows how women at the time were restricted in their ability to openly express themselves in words. Public appearances with these statements may have been subtle but not unnoticed to the aristocrats of the time.
Another article, Medici Women: The Making of a Dynasty in Grand Ducal Tuscany written by Gregory Murry, reflected on the significance of the donne, noble women, through the course of two centuries of the grand ducal regime in Italy. In this publication, he highlights the importance of these women who married into the Medici court from foreign royal families for political alliances and how they remained as agents to their respective homelands. These women continued to promote their culture and traditions in their new households after marriage to the best of their ability. This resilience to advocate for their own history, instead of the erasure of themselves for the adoption of their husbands’ families’ traditions, proved a shift in the perspective of female agency among the aristocratic class of the time. These women served more than a mere political alliance through marriage and extended their role into becoming an active diplomat for their countries of origin. This contempt for the adherence to servitude and reservation of spirit that was demanded by the culture at the time is noted by other historians that focus on this topic.
Murry assessed the works of other historiographers including Shiela Barker and others who wrote on Christine de Lorraine’s dedication to chemistry outside of her role of caretaker and wife. Barker explains that the Duchess exceeded her role as a female and used her status to influence the progressive scientific movement of the time. These women were part of a larger movement, where women’s agency was being pressured into existence by the few who were able to push forward the agenda. Still, their contributions were rarely explicitly outspoken and were mainly creatively expressed through art to their audiences.
Histography of Francesca Caccini and Contemporary Approaches
Francesca Caccini, known as “La Cecchina” to the Medici Court, was born in Florence in 1587. She is generally regarded as the first female opera composer as well as the first to perform an opera outside of Italy. However, the latter is debated by historians. Her only surviving opera is La Liberazione di Ruggiero. She also has one surviving book titled II primo libro delle musiche. Many publications for Caccini cover biographical facts with little interpretation of her work. Some researchers embark explanation of her musical contributions, and even fewer publications detail her art’s impact. The comprehensive analysis of her music is often studied from a strictly technical musical perspective, focusing on how to read and perform the scores with modern instruments. The remaining few that attempt to redefine her impact are approached by gender studies historians that piece together personal letters, relationships, and influences that shaped the creation of this opera.
It was not until the 1940s when musical historian Maria Giovanna Masera published about her life works. She wrote three publications that attracted attention to Caccini’s work. One of the most influential Italian music journals of the twentieth century, La Rassegna Musicale, draws connections between musical composition and interdisciplinary studies. In this journal, Masera published three pieces that sparked discourse on musical interpretations from a feminist perspective, specifically for Caccini’s contributions.
Still, research on her was not regarded by other historians until another twenty years later when Caroline Raney published an introductory biographical piece about her. This sparked increasing interest in her life and career. Raney continued to publish a series of works that sourced biographical accounts of Caccini’s life based on personal letters between her and others. She also provided a style analysis of both surviving works of Caccini. She expressed that Caccini focused on women in both pieces. Most of Raney’s publications were well noted at the time and set forth groundwork for future musical historians. However, little of her original analysis remains accessible today.
Research on Caccini and her legacy is limited by availability of source material. Her book Primo Libro and her opera La Liberazione are the only intact testaments to her career. Historians piece together her life from letters and first-hand accounts. The finite perspectives of her work hold her in high regard. Letters and publications from her most prominent mentor, Cristoforo Bronzini, detail much about her character and skills. Some letters between members of the Medici Court and to other royal families boast her musical talent. Her prestige outshines her father’s legacy according to interpretations of most historians who study her career.
Background & Early Life
Francesca Caccini was born into the Medici famiglia as the daughter of composer Guilio Caccini and singer Lucia di Filippo Gagnolandi. Despite her family’s secure position as musicians belonging to the Medici court, she was still regarded as a burden because she was born a girl. From the moment she was born, her life was determined by her father’s wishes. His control undeniably shaped to her upbringing and trajectory. He had unreasonable expectations for her abilities yet sabotaged many opportunities due to erratic behavior. He was known to oscillate between defiance of the aristocrat class and deep admiration for them. This pattern of behavior is well documented by many who knew him. He was a well-known gambler, a drunk and a cheater; fathering ten children from three different wives. He was boastful and arrogant, making tensions rise between him and his patrons of the Medici court.
After a short period of severance from his position at the Medici court, as well as the death of his wife, Guilio was rehired by the court. He took this position to relieve himself from debt and stagnation of his career caused by his addictions. This re-entry into the famiglia is where Francesca’s training begins. One melophile who frequently visited Guilio and his daughters was a man named Cristoforo Bronzini. He showed keen interest in Francesca and referred to her as “a girl with the sharpest of intelligence” He convinced her father to commit her advanced study, which was otherwise reserved for royal aristocrats. She was immersed in Latin, Greek, astronomy, poetics, geometry, and philosophy until the death of her tutor. Bronzini noted that in her early years she studied music “only as a pastime.” However, due to her family lineage and father’s career, this would be an area of heavy emphasis for her. Cristoforo Bronzini would prove to be a prominent figure well into her adult life, as he defended both her and the entirety of the female sex as equal to men. Since she was expected to adhere to stricter standards of self-restraint and social compliance, she did not follow into the patterns of her father. This would help her gain her footing in her career while maintaining positive social standing, contrary to him.
Still, at this time, the expectations for Caccini were that this education would only be to find her a suitable husband in nobility. Her studies were not to enrich her but rather groom her into a life of higher status. She was raised to abide the rules of conduct for a woman. During this time, several publications defined what it meant to be a proper woman. The three virtues proved to be the pillars of proper conduct: castità, onestà, and continenza. Castità, or chastity, reflected the ideals of a woman to not be affected by physical or mental desire, not particularly of the sexual nature but also of all that is immoral for a woman. This included any vices which may cause a woman to be vulgar or ungraceful to the eyes of men. Dancing or eating overly spiced foods were included in the notion, as they could cause a woman to stray from her duties or worse; cause irrational ideas. Onestà, loosely translated as honesty, meant that a woman was faithful to her word and family, especially her husband and his family to which she belonged to after marriage. She was expected to serve him and his family, not out of kindness or generosity, but rather obligation, as she was often sold to them through dowry. Lastly, continenza, which is translated as ‘continence’ or ‘self-restraint’, must be practiced at all times, as a woman’s role was to serve not to live. This was the key virtue – the one that combined onestà and castità to fulfill her ultimate purpose.
These ideals were usually instilled by mothers onto their daughters and authority was modeled by her fathers. However, Francesca Caccini was aware of these rules while having no one to enforce them onto her. For many other women, the desire to be more than this may have been discouraged more rigidly. Her influences allowed for her to question these ideals, both because she belonged to an aristocratic enlightened class, and because her mentor was a prominent feminist. Yet, she still navigated these social scenes, keenly aware of how she should conduct herself. She did not repeat the same mistakes as her father when dealing with politics. Instead of open defiance, she expressed her subversion to these rules more discreetly. Her dedication to music sprung from a desire to preserve and continue her father’s legacy. Her musical training was vigorous, and she used her voice as a tool of liberation. From the perspective of Guilio, she was a means to use to gain more influence over their patronage’s allegiances, due to their fondness of her. He often took advantage by playing her talents and using her as a pawn for monetary gain and political diplomacy.
Female Agency and Patriarchal Influence
This paper analyzes the themes of Francesca Caccini’s most popular opera, La Liberazione di Ruggerio dall’isola d’Alcina, through a critical femicentric lens that examines the use of the personification of good and evil forces to represent the struggles faced by women in the patriarchy. This perspective is explained by feminist literature critic and art historian, Johanne Lamoureux. In her publication Performances, feminismes: eloge de la virgule et du plurie (Performances of feminism: In praise of the comma and the plural), she argues that the expression of female agency in art represents female struggle against the patriarchy by use of prosopopoeia of good and evil. She uses this term to describe the act of personifying combatting concepts to display the dynamic of how women perceive oppression from their male counterparts. She uses the story of Arachne as an example. Arachne is an infamous seamstress known for her high-quality weaves. When she is asked how she learned how to spin fabric so fine, she states she learned it herself without teaching from anyone. She refuses to contribute her efforts to Athena, the goddess of arts and crafts, and insists her work is because of her own practice and skill. This evokes the jealousy of Athena, who then conspires against her to degrade her legacy. In the end, despite her efforts to prove herself to Athena, she is turned into a spider as punishment for being too boastful of her talents. Lamoreaux uses this example to highlight that a woman’s life is disregarded and punished when she rivals the patriarchy. In this analogy, the conquest of the divine is an allegory for patriarchy. The force that challenges it is symbolism for the women to defy demanded submissiveness.
Kate Millet, a prominent scholarly figure for the contemporary feminist movement, published a dissertation that became the basis for the analysis of social structure from a feminist lens. She defines the patriarchy as the dynamic of power by which men dominate over women. Her perspective, named by later contemporary feminists as ‘radical’, provided a basis for much of the new feminist movement, as it validates the structure of disempowerment faced by women as a whole. However, later ‘revolutionary’ feminist scholars rejected some of her arguments. These revolutionary feminists did not completely discredit her, instead they built off of her definition of the patriarchy. The influence of Marxist ideology included a nuanced perspective that her paper failed to address: the varied adversities of class and race. This perspective draws the conclusion that there is an inherent correlation between gender and class that effects the experiences of women within the patriarchy.
Considerations for Caccini’s Legacy
Caccini’s career would not have been possible without the support of the Medici court. Her access to education was dependent on factors out of her control. Her talents would not have been given the opportunity to develop without her relationships with musicians and aristocrats. Italian women in the early 17th century were kept from participating in the societies they lived in and were discouraged on their forms of expression. Although some women of lower classes were taught skills such as needlework or rudimentary music outside of their domestic responsibilities, it was a means to keep them from being idle. It was commonly thought that women were inclined to wander to devilish thoughts if they were not kept busy. Therefore, creative pastimes were allowed for women as a hobby. Mobility to utilize these skills into viable careers was prevented unless absolutely necessary. This application of skill was reserved for the poorest of society and stigmatized against because of its associations with poverty. Still, careers for a woman were seen as straying from femineity as a whole. This divorce from feminine virtues was especially problematic for the wealthy class of women.
Some aristocratic women were allowed to pursue temporary or part time careers. These women often faced criticisms for their robust abandonment of submissiveness. Caccini’s willingness to defy the status quo may have been met with more judgement than historians are able to currently uncover. Her contributions have been largely lost. Limited ascriptions to her career remain today. However, her achievements are not completely defeated. Contemporary discourse on agency and art from the perspective of female disempowerment grows with new interpretations of feminist expressions of female experience.
This analysis seeks to view how the disempowerment of women influenced Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggerio by emphasizing themes of divine battle faced by an androgenous protagonist that personified good to express her revolt from the submissiveness demanded of her as a woman. She was restricted from using a female protagonist that did not fall into the archetypes allowed for female characters due to the social culture of her time. The expectation for female protagonists reflected the strict ideals for what a woman should be. She either had to be a picture of innocence with her plot revolved around love for a man, or she could be seductress, an evil temptress as a warning of the dangers of female sexuality. In both instances, her gender and sexuality were only allowed to be adjacent to the development of a man. Instead, Caccini sought to portray her protagonist with androgenous characteristics to avoid severe backlash. Her use of a protagonist with emphasis on unisexness may have also been a tribute to one of the patrons of the piece. The main protagonist of her story is a woman, who is only allowed to express heroinism by disguise of a man to protect a man named Ruggiero. Yet, Caccini utilizes opportunities to quietly nurture the audience to see the protagonist as a person before her role as a woman.
La Liberazione di Ruggerio dall’isola d’Alcina
The four-part comedic operatic work La Liberazione di Ruggerio dall’isola d’Alcina was first performed in the Medici court in 1625 to celebrate the arrival of Prince Wladyslaw of Poland during The Carnival. It is regarded as the first opera to be written by a woman, and the first opera to be performed outside of Italy. It is written in stile moderno with inspiration of Monteverdi’s works. Different from other operas of its time, it does not employ a castrato. A castrato is a male singer castrated as a young boy so that he could sing high pitches into adulthood. This practice was commonplace in Italy because women were not allowed to be in music due to papal law. It was immoral for a woman to be in the musical world. This practice started in church music but mainlined into secular music as well. The absence of a castrato is not missed on consideration of the intentions of this piece. This opera calls for six sopranos, two altos, seven tenors, and one bass. The theatrical element of this piece is through its performance which is an ambitious ballet-opera featuring horses. This grandiosity was demanded of royal performances as a means to display wealth and power, which was especially important for the context of the current politics of the Medici court.
The plot of La Liberazione follows the protagonist, Melissa, the “good witch,” as she attempts to liberate Ruggiero from the illusions of the evil enchantress Alcina, who tries to convince him that she is a beautiful maiden in attempt to manipulate him to abandon his betrothed. Melissa, who is also a sorceress, sees this and intervenes. She sets out to rescue Ruggiero from imprisonment on Alcina’s island. Her island is filled with past lovers who she also illusioned into captivity. In doing so, she also liberates all of Alcina’s trapped suitors under her spell who were prohibited from leaving the island. At the peak of the opera, Caccini convinces the audience of Melissa’s heroinism under the guise of male heroism. In doing so, she quietly allows a female to be the hero, while ironically adhering to the unwritten rules of theater at the time.
Following the prologue, after Ruggiero is trapped on the island and tricked into illusioned vows with Alcina, he is found swaying among the singing trees in a forest of magic for his entertainment while Alcina attended estate matters. This scene depicts a man at total mercy of a powerful female villain. Although this villain does use her alluring sexuality to lure him, she does not act pleasantly to appeal to him. She subtly manipulates him with deceptive charm instead of the traditional approach for women to swoon men. This vixen archetype unveils a new approach to female power that reflected some characteristics of a patron of this opera. Although she is presented as a villain, it does not nullify the importance of representation of a vigorous female lead.
During the absence of Alcina, Melissa sees the opportunity to liberate Ruggiero. Disguised as Atlante, an African warrior, she descends to the island to reason with him. In this male form, she commands that he return to his duties as a military post and as a husband to his awaiting fiancée. While he is being convinced, a melody arises from surrounding nature and the plants come to life to warn him that Alcina will return in wrath. This invokes one of Alcina’s maidens to report the plans of liberation to her. She becomes enraged and declares that she will win his heart back through “sweet notes” and “wet cheeks”, alluding to a technique associated with submissive femineity.
However, she does not follow through with this approach. In this next act, Caccini opts to express the female character’s disdain for traditional responses. As noted, “she rejected as futile strategies of song and tears and instead marshaled magic and monsters in her defense.” This approach then furthers Caccini’s remarks against traditional perspectives on female agency. She depicts a woman capable of destruction propelled by a desire for control. This may allude to the reinforcement of political power, a subtle warning that despite the Medici Court being female-led, they will be as physically strong as male opposition. Thus, this battle between Alcina and Melissa is an allegory for an assertion of female power.
Medici Court and Rising Female Power
Following the death of the Grand Duke Ferdinando I in 1606, the throne was left to his widow, Christine de Lorraine. The Grand Duchess, alongside her daughter-in-law, Maria Magdalena of Austria, now ruled over the Medici court. With the political context for which this opera was written, it may seem it was solely a means to express the authority of the new female led Medici court. However, this allowance of female agency was not permitted to exist in a vacuum. The push for equality among the sexes was primarily influenced by the art and literature created by Caccini and her close artistic colleagues. Due to several propositions from prominent leading philosophers associated with the court and aristocratic class, the allowance of female power was able to push previous boundaries. The most notable artistic colleague of Caccini, Cristoforo Bronzini, published a series of manuscripts in conversational format that argued for equality among the sexes. Bronzini’s argument in della dignita e nobilita delle donne primarily uses examples of female artists in the aristocratic scene to defend his point. He emphasizes that these women, specifically Caccini, exhibit virtues that must be regarded highly in any human. These virtues are not ones that exist only in a masculine sense but transcend to incorporate men and women alike. These virtues define the merit of people more than sex does, and therefore gender should not be a defining factor in the determination of character. This publication sparked discourse that served as a catalyst for the feminist movement of its time.
The Medici court was female-led and sought to prove its legitimacy of power by the language of the elite: extravagant performances. Christine de Lorraine and Maria de Magdalena had their own oppositions to male domination. Both women were born into high status and served their purposes as women: to produce heirs. However, these women also exercised a great deal of power once they were granted the throne. Despite their respective experience with authority, power, and control, they were written off as inferior and unable to carry their duties as governesses because of their sex. Although they had money, status, and control, they did not have agency over their own lives. Even they sought to find an outlet to express triumph over their limitations. Due to this, they encouraged the woman in their courts to pursue more than what society allowed. This of course extended to Caccini as her musical abilities began to develop. It should be noted that she was unable to produce this opera without the support of her Medici court patrons. Her success as a solo female composer was backed by the Grand Duchess and her daughter-in-law, who pushed for their own agency as women in positions of power. However, this does not take away from the influence of her work in La Liberazione both as a powerful political tool and performance to push the stereotypes of what a woman could be.
Liberation, Agency, and Political Power
Caccini highlights the aspects of femineity that are most revered by dramatizing scenes with elaborate theatrics to represent exaggerated caricatures of essential feminine virtues. Melissa exhibits the virtue of continenza by restraining herself, thereby preventing herself to be controlled by her power as Alcina is. She practices castità by ensuring that Ruggiero is not led astray from his wife-to-be, extending the virtues of femineity onto a man. She also upholds onestà by revealing Alcina’s schemes and breaking the illusion. Altogether, she embodies feminine virtues without submission to the inferiority associated with them.
In addition to embodying these virtues, she represents them as a standard of moral character that should be exhibited by men and women alike. She does so by expecting the male character to also exhibit these same virtues without gendering the characteristic. When she helps Ruggiero shatter the illusion, she speaks to him about his duty to his engagement. She establishes that he has a duty to his wife and that he must restrain himself from temptation. She also practices restraint, but instead of keeping herself from sexual temptation, it is against the extent of her own power. She recognizes the capabilities of her magic and the potential it has to take over her and others. She does not dimmish herself or her abilities; instead, she chooses to utilize them for the benefit of everyone. This allegory of divine power that she holds is a metaphor for the agency that all women are born with. Caccini explores the empowerment of women by recognizing that she has an innate ability to influence the world instead of playing a passive role.
Caccini expresses this wielding of power for higher good in her real life. The act of creating this opera utilizes her mastery of the musical arts as a medium for social change. She conveys this message through pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable for female musicians through employing female singers and actors in her opera. She writes a plot that relies on women to drive the story and subverts the traditional narratives of heroism.
Through this opera she also pays homage to the patrons. The inclusion of their personalities articulated in the characteristics of the characters allows for them to inject themselves into the magical story. For the viewer, she uses comedic irony to create an entertaining performance. She carefully constructs a world where the complexity of the patriarchal system is conveyed into a digestible enactment that does not offend the more sensitive audience members. Still, Caccini leaves them with a message: women are capable of driving their own lives forward and men are not vital to the progression of their stories. These women are not secondary to men. These ideals are not ones that were distant to Christine de Lorraine, Maria de Magdalena, and Francesca Caccini, who believed that women already upheld these attributes. It was the purpose of the opera to convey this to its audience; that women are equally capable of leading their own lives without male guidance.
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