The Honest Courtesan
by Margaret Rosenthalliterary work· published 1992
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The Honest Courtesan is a 1992 biographical book by Margaret Rosenthal about a 16th-century Venetian courtesan named Veronica Franco. "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 letters offer testimony to the complexity of the honest courtesan's position. In 1998, the film Dangerous Beauty was based on this book. The movie starred Catherine McCormack as Veronica Franco and was directed by Marshall Herskovitz.
Adaptations (1)
The Honest Courtesan was adapted into a 1998 film.
Dangerous Beauty1998 · film · 111 min · dir. Marshall Herskovitz · IMDb ↗Veronica is brilliant, gifted and beautiful, but the handsome aristocrat she loves, Marco Venier, cannot marry her because she is penniless and of questionable family. So Veronica's mother, Paola, teaches her to become a courtesan, one of the exotic companions favored by the richest and most powerful Venetian men. Veronica courageously uses her charms to change destiny -- and to give herself a chance at true love.
