Arcangela Tarabotti's Exegetic Fight for Women's Free Will

The most significant writer in support of women’s dignity is the nun Arcangela Tarabotti, who in her many works made a trenchant attack against the practice of families forcing women to become nuns, a practice which was not strongly opposed by the civil and religious authorities. Her writings have been explored in great depth by earlier scholars, but a fresh approach is taken here by considering her relationship to her source text, the Bible, which she knew very well, and by examining her strong opposition to the way the Bible was used by contemporary Venetian intellectuals. Particular attention is paid to her refutation of the infamous pamphlet Women Are Not Human Beings , translated into Italian in 1647, and to the way she supported the principle that women are equipped with free will and have the right to make their own decisions for their lives.