The first original chivalric poem written by an Italian woman, "Floridoro" imbues a strong feminist ethos into a hypermasculine genre. Dotted with the usual characteristics-dark forests, illusory palaces, enchanted islands, seductive sorceresses"-Floridoro" is the story of the two greatest knights of a bygone age: the handsome Floridoro, who risks everything for love, and the beautiful Risamante, who helps women in distress while on a quest for her inheritance. Throughout, Moderata Fonte (1555-92) vehemently defends women's capacity to rival male prowess in traditionally male-dominated...