As part of this year's Humanities Week, Prof. Alfie will give a talk about La Compiuta Donzella. This will be his second talk about the Italian poet during the Fall 2014 semester.
Active between 1260-1270, the woman known only as La Compiuta Donzella (“the fulfilled damsel”) attracted the attention of several male writers. Two of them were astonished that such wisdom could be found in a female. The third, the important poet Guittone d’Arezzo (1235-1294), praised her insights but reminded her to follow virtue. And yet, almost nothing is known about her, not even her name. She left a corpus of three sonnets in which she demonstrates her knowledge of literary forms. At the same time, though, she introduces seemingly personal material into her verse, decrying her father’s intentions to marry her to someone she didn’t love.
You can watch a promotional video here.
For more information about Humanities Week, please see the story in the Arizona Daily Star (10/9/14).
