«Dura conditione del sesso donnesco». Sulle rappresentazioni del potere femminile nella trattatistica politica italiana cinque-seicentesca

Women’s power, both formal and informal, has been the focus of extensive attention for many years, which has made it possible to shed light on the declinations, spaces and ways in which women’s strategies of self-assertion in a firmly patriarchal society unfolded, from the Middle Ages to the long nineteenth century. A contribution in this direction can also come from investigating theories of female power and its representations in political treatises. This essay intends to offer some methodological notes and to deal with some texts from Reason of State as a case study.