The Book of the City of the Ladies by Christine de Pizan, although a bit lengthy, was an overall enjoyable read for Chandanie and I. This passage is about a young woman, who also happens to be the author, who grows to hate the female sex because of a text wrote by a man named Matheolus. Because of her new found hatred, three goddesses appear one night to tell her of the many great accomplishments that women have achieved throughout history and to try to restore her faith in the female sex.
We felt that this passage introduced two main themes that we will be talking about in tomorrow’s presentation: loss of identity and females: the foundation of society. We found the first theme, loss of identity, mostly prevalent in the short chapters 1-4 when Christine loses faith in the female sex and wishes she was a man. The second theme, females: the foundation of society, is seen mainly throughout the rest of the book. Some chapters where this theme stood out to us are chapters 33, 34, 37 and 38 where Reason is telling Christine about the new forms of knowledge women have introduced into society. One example Reason gives to Christine to try to help her regain her trust in the female sex is, “It is definitely the case that when Nature fails to make a body which is as perfect as others, she has created, be it in shape or beauty, or in some strength or power of limb, she very often compensates for it by giving that body some greater quality than the one she has taken away (page 789).” Do you agree or disagree with this quote? Why or why not?
We will also be discussing the article, “From The City of Ladies to Watch Bitches: Real French Feminism” by Katherine Roussos. This article talks about how feminism is a cultural phenomenon, and mentions how The Book of the City of the Ladies is similar to a French society. The article points out the differences between the basis of American culture and the basis of French culture and how this ties into how people think about topics such as feminism and gender roles.