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| List of plates | |
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| Acknowledgements | |
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| Frequently cited sources | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Ideals | |
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| Woman's nature and characteristics | |
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| The case against women | |
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| Theological arguments | |
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| Biological arguments | |
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| Biology to social psychology: woman's temperament and characteristics | |
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| From description to prescription: notions of womanly virtues | |
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| The discourse of beauty and love | |
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| The nature and value of woman's beauty | |
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| Beauty and classical echoes | |
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| Beauty and vernacular poetry | |
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| Questioning and reversing poetic ideals of beauty | |
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| The diffusion of poetic ideals of beauty | |
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| Ideal love | |
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| The Virgin Mary | |
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| Women approaching Mary as woman and exemplar | |
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| Public cults | |
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| Private devotions | |
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| Female saints | |
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| Cults, prayers, stories | |
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| Female saints and female devotion | |
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| Renaissance saints and holy women | |
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| Famous and exemplary women | |
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| Goddesses | |
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| Old Testament heroines | |
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| Famous women among the ancients | |
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| Anti-heroines and their vices | |
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| Famous women and Renaissance women | |
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| Life cycles | |
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| Girls | |
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| The birth of a daughter | |
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| Upbringing | |
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| Appearance and dress | |
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| Education | |
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| Social behaviour and pastimes | |
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| Poor girls | |
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| Betrothals and weddings | |
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| Choosing a husband/Choosing a wife | |
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| The betrothal | |
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| Dowries, gifts and commemorative art | |
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| The wedding and wedding festivities | |
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| Marriage and married life | |
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| The justification for marriage | |
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| Conduct and behaviour in marriage: the marriage treatise | |
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| Conduct and behaviour in marriage: two churchmen's views | |
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| Outward appearance | |
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| Domestic spaces and furnishings | |
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| Running a household | |
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| The life of married women | |
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| Preparing for death | |
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| Unhappy marriages | |
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| Conception, childbirth and the upbringing of children | |
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| Conception | |
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| Pregnancy | |
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| Childbirth | |
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| Festivities after the birth of a child | |
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| Death in childbirth | |
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| Bringing up children | |
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| Widows | |
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| Exemplary widows; widowhood in general | |
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| Alternative widowhoods | |
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| The aftermath of bereavement | |
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| Coping alone: financial and practical matters | |
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| Bringing up children | |
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| Remarriage | |
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| Influential widows | |
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| Widows dispose of their estates | |
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| Piety and charitable activities | |
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| Roles | |
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| Nuns and women in religion | |
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| Entering a convent: procedures, motivations, personnel | |
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| The monastic way of life: ideals and practices | |
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| Problems and abuses | |
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| The physical environment of nuns; their use of artefacts | |
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| Nuns' social contacts and cultural roles | |
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| The Third Orders and other non-enclosed religious groupings | |
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| The court lady | |
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| The court lady as an ideal | |
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| The court lady | |
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| The donna di corte or lady-in-waiting | |
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| The roles of a ruler's wife | |
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| Luxury at court | |
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| Relaxation and pastimes | |
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| Mistresses and concubines | |
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| Women and work for gain | |
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| Women in the marketplace | |
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| Textile workers | |
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| Servants and slaves | |
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| Wet-nurses | |
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| Hospital staff | |
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| Prostitutes and courtesans | |
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| Prostitutes in city spaces | |
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| Different methods and behaviour | |
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| The successful courtesan | |
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| Courtesans speak | |
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| Negative views of courtesans | |
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| Attempts at reform | |
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| Writers, artists, musicians and performers | |
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| Backgrounds, settings, training, mentors | |
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| Positive critical reactions | |
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| Negative reactions: issues of decorum | |
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| Self-presentation and justification | |
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| The plates | |
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| Index | |