Attitudes of the sixteenth-century society towards women: from Camões and popular theatre to social and ethnic reality

Abstract

The issue addressed here is whether there is any correspondence between the ideas in vogue in 16th century Portugal about the women of the various ethnic groups living there, as reflected in literature, and concrete reality. The latter is made known by administrative, civil and ecclesiastical texts, or by reports from foreigners, which are therefore more credible than literary works. These, in the case of poetry, were influenced by reasons of style or cultural tradition, or, in the case of theatre, by the need to please the public. Through excerpts from various authors, from Camões to the most popular playwrights, the different visions of the various types of women are conveyed, concluding, in most cases, that there is a correspondence, despite some exaggeration, between the reality presented by non-literary sources and what literature reveals.