Disabled Bodies and Female Souls: From Dante to Marinella

 In this chapter, I address Dante Alighieri’s approach to disabled bodies and souls. For my reading, I rely on Lucrezia Marinella's (1571–1653) interpretation of the genealogy of body and soul. I reread the influence of Dante’s own scientific thought on the body/soul problem, and particularly the challenge that bodies with physical differences represent, in light of the Renaissance querelle des femmes. I argue that, for Dante, physical “difetti” and “impedimenti” can be blameless or without sin. In contrast, in La nobiltà et l’eccellenza delle donne, Marinella indicts the entire male gender as morally defective. Marinella utilizes Dante as an authoritative scientific and historical source, one by which she asserts the universal defective nature of men in both body and soul. Finally, I show how Dante's own specific treatment of disabled bodies, such as the deaf, as separate from defective or evil souls, illuminates categorizations and valorizations of bodies who are able or impeded in their pursuit of scienza and knowledge of God.