Medieval Women. ‘The Book of the City of Ladies’ by de Pizan

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The message of the book
The author’s main idea fearlessly challenges medieval ideas about women
The author’s style making the message of the book to sound even more emphatic
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

‘The Book of the City of Ladies’ written by Christine de Pizan can be acclaimed as a strong piece of literature reflecting on the situation women had in the society during the human history. In ‘The Book of the City of Ladies’, the educated Venetian woman Christine de Pizan describes an imaginary conversation she had with Reason, Justice, and Rectitude about the nature of women. Within the book, the audience will find a coherent and cohesive representation of all the hardships women had to deal with along with their efforts to improve their state and their accomplishments in this area. In the following paper, this book will be addressed in terms of the way it challenges medieval ideas about women. Generally, the book can be evaluated as a fine piece on women’s role in the history showing an inspiring outlook on their value for the human society which is very different from beliefs about women spread during the period of Middle Ages.

The message of the book

First of all, speaking about the message of the book, it should be stated that it is related to the women’s role in the human society. The book keeps on focusing on the theme of gender discrimination along with the ideas of feminism and gender equality which are so different from medieval interpretations of what women really are. The author initiates her thought-provoking argument about the real concept of the woman addressing numerous works by famous men of science, politics and literature who humiliated women as wicked and sinful creatures full of the most negative qualities including envy, animosity, hostility, bitterness, blasphemy, and pride. In her book, Pizan (82) states,

I wondered how it happened that so many different men–and learned men among them–have been so inclined to express both in speaking and writing so many wicked insults about women and their behavior. They all concur in one conclusion: that women are fundamentally evil and inclined to vice…Like a gushing fountain, a series of authorities, whom I recalled one after another, came to mind, along with their opinions on this topic. And I finally decided that God formed a vile creature when He made woman, and I wondered how such a worthy artisan could have deigned to make such an abominable work which, from what they say, is the vessel and abode of every evil and vice.

This quotation shows the way the author is hurt on the reason of a false concept about the essence of a woman personality. Through the whole book, Pizan strives to prove that cynic vision of women existing during the period of the Middle Ages violates the very sense of humanity as a creature of God, and, as a result, is even more than simply mistaken.

The author’s main idea fearlessly challenges medieval ideas about women

Further, the central idea represented in the book and described above can be evaluated as very different from anti-women ideology spread during the Middle Ages. In this vein, the role of women in the society has long been underestimated during the medievalism. Humanity was rather far away from its brilliant achievements in the area of conquering bias and prejudice along with overcoming the problem of discrimination on the basis of gender criteria. Women worked to wear and tear at difficult and low-paid areas including textile industry, agriculture industry, reprocessing manufactures, and so on. They were oppressed in the family, and at social places such as church and courts. As a result, numerous pieces of literature showed a woman as sort of a wicked entity which always had a desire to revenge for the sad position it was put into as a result of one’s lot in life. Very different form such negative and insulting description, Pizan concentrates on women’s positive features including piety, integrity, faith, love, mildness, chastity, hardworking spirit, self-control and many more.

The author’s style making the message of the book to sound even more emphatic

With regards to the author’s style, it should be said that it is rather interesting and easy for comprehension and perception. The strength of her style is in her ability to make every reader interested and involved into the process of reading. The book is developed in a way which helps to feel oneself a part of the events related in the book, to “listen” to the dialogues of its characters and to feel the real atmosphere existing during those days. Through the pages of the book, the audience is involved into the atmosphere of discrimination and bias women had to face which appears to be very effective in achieving the book’s goal to change social outlook common during those days.

Conclusion

As a final point, ‘The Book of the City of Ladies’ written by Christine de Pizan can be described as successful and efficient work inspiring to value women as precious contributors to the well-being of humanity. Pizan’s position expressed in the book is very different from the literature works of Middle Ages which often described women as desperate creatures oppressed and afflicted by all the injustices and discrimination they had to face in the area of religion, politics, employment, family relations and gender violence; and fierce and wicked, as a result.

Works Cited

De Pizan, Christine. The Book of the City of Ladies, The United States: Persea, 1998. Print.

Click Here To Order Now!

Medieval Women. ‘The Book of the City of Ladies’ by de Pizan

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)