In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that I’ve begun a slow read of Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies. Though I possess a Christine de Pizan coffee mug, and her work is often referenced in books on medieval history, I’ve never read this text. I’m using the Audible version of Rosalind Brown-Grant’s translation. I’ll cite my references using section numbers rather than page numbers in case you’re reading a different edition. This first reflection covers Part 1, Sections 1-10.
Welcome, dear readers, to my journey into the City of Ladies!
Christine’s Genre and Background
As a 14th-century writer, Christine is situated in a long tradition of religious and allegorical dialogue. She writes from her Christian perspective, relying on Biblical stories familiar to her readers. In City of Ladies, she imagines a conversation with three divine visitors who will illuminate her thoughts and her culture’s ideas about women. “Crowned and of majestic appearance,” these figures are Lady Reason, Lady Rectitude, and Lady Justice (1.2). Like others in this genre, Christine casts herself as a humble scholar who needs to be taught.
Christine begins in her study, searching for something to read. She finds a book that offers familiar criticism of women and meditates on her unworthiness. She wonders why God, a source of goodness, would intentionally design women as flawed beings. She deplores her lack of understanding. But Lady Reason says, “Return to your senses,” and invites Chrisstine to reconsider the tradition of denigrating women (1.2).
In this text, Christine and her instructors often speak of “virtuous” and “noble” women. While these words may sound trite to our ears, it is important to acknowledge their magnitude in a medieval or Renaissance context. Many medieval writers used a woman’s physical body to measure her virtue: beautiful women were assumed to be mild, chaste, and obedient. But Christine and her three guests are speaking of a spiritual integrity that renders a woman “noble.” While male writers praised golden hair and soft eyes, Christine is looking for a woman’s piety, meekness, and largeness of heart.
An Affectionate Mentorship
The three ladies address Christine as “my dear daughter” and “my dear girl” as they urge her to analyze the criticisms leveled at women. By building the City of Ladies and filling it with women of virtue, they will dethrone the illogical judgments of women as weak, immoral, and frivolous. Lady Reason affirms, “Those who speak ill of women do more harm to themselves than they do to the women they actually slander” (1.2). The three guests will help Christine build the City of Ladies, a “sturdy and impregnable” refuge for women (1.3). While Lady Reason does most of the talking, each virtuous instructor has a unique part to play.
Using her mirror, Lady Reason shows people the truth in themselves. She will help Christine lay the foundation for the City. With her yardstick, Lady Rectitude accurately measures the rightness of people’s actions. She will help Christine map the inner buildings of the City. And Lady Justice uses her golden vessel to dole out the appropriate rewards for people’s virtuous behavior. She will construct the golden tops of the City’s high towers and fill the City with noble women. She will also bring the City a virtuous queen.
Returning Christine to Her Senses
The work begins with excavation. Lady Reason calls Christine to use the “spade of your intelligence” to turn over the soil so the City’s foundations can be established (1.8). This task involves examining why men criticize women and whether these judgements are valid. When introducing the project, Lady Reason asks, “Have you forgotten that it is in the furnace that gold is refined?” (1.2). Together she and Christine discover that men criticize women out of spite, envy, arrogance, and misguided good intentions.
The “gold” of their discussion exists in these last three sections. Christine cites historical figures like Ovid and Cicero, and Lady Reason refutes their criticisms. She reveals that men despise women when they can no longer enjoy them or when they want to show off. Even well-intentioned men err when criticizing all women for the foolish actions of a few.
Christine asks whether women’s bodies are weak or defective as she has read, and Lady Reason tells her to recall personal experience. She says this beautiful line: “If the divine craftsman himself wasn’t ashamed to create the female form, why should nature be?” (1.9). To be made in God’s image, she assures Christine, is a spiritual quality, not a physical one.
Final Thoughts
As Lady Reason helps Christine clear away misconceptions about women, their dialogue is fairminded, logical, and kind. They both praise the “gentleness” in women, which is a quality we can admire in any gender. Lady Reason says that building the City will help Christine overcome any doubts about her self-worth, but the City will also shine forth for women of the future who have endured centuries of criticism. This is a valuable endeavor, and I am excited to read on!
