The Book of the City of Ladies
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The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) was Christine de Pizan's response to Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris ("Concerning Famous Women"), as well being part of a larger intellectual discussion in that era centered around works such as the "Romance of the Rose" by Jean de Mehun.
Pizan presents an allegorical society in which the word "lady" is defined as a woman of noble spirit, instead of noble birth. The book deals with a number of women of past eras, mostly saints, whom Pizan wished to offer as examples of the potential that women had to lead noble lives and contribute to society.
Also included is a didactic exchange between three allegorical goddesses (Reason, Rectitude, & Justice) and de Pizan. In the exchange, Pizan asks the goddesses if women should be taught as men are and why men think women should not be educated. Other questions that are explored are: the criminality of rape, the natural affinity in women to learn, and their talent for government.
Reference
- Kenneth J. Atchity (1996), The Renaissance Reader, (HarperCollins Publishers: New York), pages: 25-29, ISBN 0062701290