Catherine II as Female Ruler: The Power of Enlightened Womanhood

Ivleva, Victoria

Abstract

This article examines some of the complexities of female rule during the reign of Catherine II (1762-1796). It argues that in addition to the Baroque scenarios of power inherited from her predecessors, the German-born Russian empress employed the cultural roles of an “enlightened” woman of merit – a matriarch, a craftswoman, a house manager, and an educator – roles that projected positive values of womanhood, in order to position her femininity as beneficial to the state and to thereby legitimize her authority as a female sovereign.

Citation

Ivleva, V. (2015). Catherine II as Female Ruler: The Power of Enlightened Womanhood. Vivlīoḟika, 3, 20-46

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 13, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Sep 4, 2015
• Publication Date: Sep 4, 2015
• Deposit Date: May 19, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 20, 2015
• Journal: Vivliofika : e-journal of eighteenth-century Russian studies.
• Electronic ISSN: 2333-1658
• Publisher: Duke University Libraries
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Pages: 20-46
• Keywords: Catherine II, Peter I, Elizabeth, Gender roles, Patriarchy, Matriarchy, Statecraft, Housecraft, Domesticity, Education.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1405206
• Publisher URL: http://vivliofika.library.duke.edu/article/view/15255