Η μορφή της γυναίκας στη λογοτεχνία της Κρήτης κατά τους 16ο-17ο αιώνες

Limited as it was in its default role of mother, wife or daughter, virgin or prostitute, nun or witch, woman was characterized by from the medieval period onwards according to a very rigid and essentially masculine social model. Those who did not fit into these social categories were considered suspicious personalities of dubious character. But beyond these generalised commonplaces, however, the role of women in a male society was only superficially secondary to men: the men often had to rely on her as an inevitable point of reference, for his personal social recognition and value. Indeed, it seems that the first reason while the man was charged with the task of making the woman's life easier to protect the purity and safeguard the respect for her person.