christine de pizan book of the city of ladies

And then at the last second, she tells her female readers to be obedient to their husbands. She also feels confident that she has shown once and for all that women are just as good as men. But many of these anecdotes are chock full of action, torture, and deception: you know, the juicy stuff.īy the end of the book, Christine de Pizan has finished constructing the City of Ladies and has populated it with the greatest women from history and literature. By the end of this book, this pattern might get a little repetitive. And last but not least, the magical lady will then provide a laundry list of examples of women who prove that the exact opposite is true, thus showing Christine (and all of us readers) that women are really great. Second, one of the three magical ladies will say that it's not true. First, Christine will bring up a common female stereotype. Along the way, she chats with all three ladies and learns some valuable lessons from history about just how great women can be.įor the most part, The Book of the City of Ladies follows the same pattern over and over. Feeling rejuvenated, Christine gets to work.

In fact, Lady Reason is so convinced of this that she tells Christine de Pizan to build a great city for all the best women in the world to live in. Lady Reason tells Christine that she's wrong for thinking that women are bad. While she's feeling bad, Christine is visited by three magical sisters whose names are Lady Reason, Lady Rectitude, and Lady Justice. But it's no use she can't stop thinking about the book, and she begins to think that she's been cursed by being born a woman. She puts the book away and tries to get on with her life. So she picks up a book by a guy named Mathéolus and is saddened to find that the entire book is just one long rant against how horrible women are. One day, Christine de Pizan sits down in her library and decides that she'd like to do some light reading.

Christine de pizan book of the city of ladies