The Honest Courtesan
Encyclopedia
The Honest Courtesan is a 1992 biographical book by Margaret Rosenthal about a 16th century Venetian courtesan
named Veronica Franco
.
was based on this book. The movie starred Catherine McCormack
as Veronica Franco
and was directed by Marshall Herskovitz
. The film was re-titled The Honest Courtesan for release in the United Kingdom
and Europe
in 1999.
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
named Veronica Franco
Veronica Franco
Veronica Franco was an Italian poet and courtesan in 16th century Venice.- Life as a courtesan :Renaissance Venetian society recognized two different classes of courtesans: the cortigiana onesta, the intellectual courtesan, and the cortigiana di lume, lower-class prostitutes who tended to live and...
.
Description
The Venetian courtesan has long captured the imagination as a female symbol of sexual license, elegance, beauty and unruliness. What then to make of the cortigiana onesta -the honest courtesan who recast virtue as intellectual integrity and offered wit and refinement in return for patronage and a place in public life ? Veronica Franco (1546-1591) was such a woman, a writer and citizen of Venice, whose published poems and familiar letters offer rich testimony to the complexity of the honest courtesan's position.Adaptation
In 1998, the film Dangerous BeautyDangerous Beauty
Dangerous Beauty is a biographical drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz. It is adapted from the non-fiction book The Honest Courtesan, by Margaret Rosenthal, , about the life of Veronica Franco , a courtesan in 16th century Venice.A stage musical version of the film premiered on July 25,...
was based on this book. The movie starred Catherine McCormack
Catherine McCormack
Catherine McCormack is an English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.- Early life :...
as Veronica Franco
Veronica Franco
Veronica Franco was an Italian poet and courtesan in 16th century Venice.- Life as a courtesan :Renaissance Venetian society recognized two different classes of courtesans: the cortigiana onesta, the intellectual courtesan, and the cortigiana di lume, lower-class prostitutes who tended to live and...
and was directed by Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz is an American film director, writer and producer, and currently the President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America. Among his productions are Traffic, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, and I Am Sam. Herskovitz has directed two feature films, Jack the Bear and...
. The film was re-titled The Honest Courtesan for release in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1999.