Christine De Pizan Book Of The City Of Ladies Analysis

Pitzer College

Christine de Pizan’s Definition of a Woman

Katherine Cohen

Queer and Feminist Histories of Early Modern Europe

Dr. Carina Johnson

17 February 2023

Christine de Pizan was a writer and poet who lived in the medieval era. Because her father was King Charles the fifth’s astrologer and secretary, she was one of the few women in early modern Europe who had access to an education (Mark, 2019). This gave her the rare opportunity to learn how to write and read when growing up, while most women at the time were learning how to be homemakers. One of her most famous books is The Book of the City of Ladies, which is a feminist piece that challenges stereotypes and misogynistic views towards women that were prevalent at this

She also argued that women were just as capable as men of pursuing knowledge and education and should be given every chance to do so. In The Book of the City of Ladies, she writes: "Women, too, are rational creatures and have the ability to understand, learn, and know just like men, although they may have a different way of understanding and learning" (Pizan, 1405: Chapter 1). This quote illustrates Christine de Pizan's belief that women are not inferior to men, but rather have their own unique way of understanding and

She strongly argued that women should be allowed to pursue any profession they desired, and fought against the stigma that they should be confined to traditional roles such as wife, mother, or caretaker. She states: "There are women who are rulers of provinces, kingdoms, and realms, and women who occupy positions of authority and governance in cities and towns. There are also women who engage in business and trade, as well as women who work as artisans and craftsmen" (Pizan, 1405: Chapter 2). In this quote, Pizan states that women have the ability to occupy positions of power and that they should be allowed to do so. In this chapter, she delves into numerous significant women who ruled kingdoms, invented objects, wrote poetry, and overall achieved things that women at the time did not usually have the ability to do. By pointing out these specific examples, Pizan shows that women are not just homemakers, but have the proficiency to create things we use in everyday life. Not only are women necessary functioning members of society, they play a critical role in maintaining the success of a community. In addition to their typical domestic jobs, Pizan firmly believed that women could contribute and had valuable skills that could and should be put to use in the same professions men engaged