... tell me you shall die if I continue unkind; but I very plainly tell your Lordship, that I must perish if I prove otherwise: since I know it will be impossible for me to live after the loss of my honor" (146). Violenta reiterates the conventional belief of the time: the notion that the value of a woman's life is linked irrevocably to her virginal status ... having done everything according to the stipulations of how proper virtuous women should behave, Violenta is left destitute by her husband, for although he gives her 2,000 ducats the morning after the wedding, the exchange is unbalanc...

• Word Count: 1986
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Graduate