Christine De Pizan Essay

Women From the Renaissance In the book Giovanni and Lusanna by Gene Brucker, the author portrays the life of a woman who is neglected in a male-dominated society. Women during the Renaissance were separate and unequal to men, especially when the woman was in a lower social class. Brucker shows the reader that in a woman’s family life, social life, and even romantic life during this time period it was difficult to be taken seriously.

She was a French Renaissance writer, she wrote some the very first feminist pieces of literature. She wrote a book and called The Book Of The City Of Ladies. Her book was written to combat the current ideas that existed about women's nature. “Christine's book stood as a testimony to the greatness and accomplishments

After Christine 's children grew up, they became independent from her, and she was able to study along with her writing. Christine 's writings were mainly regarding the question of equality between both sexes and women 's rights. However, these writings were so different from writings of her time, especially because she is a woman. Christine is the one to introduce the writings of Dante to the French, and her work The Fayttes of Armes is based on her reading of Vegetius who was a writer of ancient Rome. Christine 's writings, in their various forms, discuss many feminist topics such as women 's oppression, the lack of education for women, societal behaviours towards women, combating a misogynistic society, women 's rights and accomplishments, and visions of more equal world between men

Christine de Pizan uses her literary work, The Book of the City of Ladies, as a way to criticize medieval European society through the extensive use of multifaceted characters in a physical world setting. Through the construction of the City of Ladies, Christine questions the world that man created and proves that women are much more capable of doing physical and intellectual activities than men give them credit for. The story opens with Christine reading Lamentations, written by a thirteenth century poet named Mathieu of Boulogne, or Matheoulus. There, he discusses the fundamentals marriage and claims that women make men’s lives miserable. Christine reads this and becomes upset as her existential crisis sets in and feels ashamed to be

Gender Roles in Early Modern Period Writings The early modern period writing concerning gender roles have a real relation to the thinking and debate that is seen going on in today’s world. Throughout time, women have been held responsible, demeaned, and used to further the agendas of their male counter parts. It is interesting to discover that women initially began the women’s rights movement as early as the 1500s. The woman’s suffrage movement was what won the right to vote in the 1900s.

Dieu d’Amour was “the first time we see a woman take up her pen in defense of her sex”. Her most famous literary works were The Book of the City of Ladies and The Treasure of the City of Ladies. In The Book of the City of Ladies Pizan responded to misogynistic constructs of society during the time and portrayed important contributions women had made to history and society. She created a symbolic city in which society appreciates women and believes in the equality of the sexes. In her other book, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, she instructs women of all socioeconomic standings how to play a significant role in society.

Overcoming Stereotypes Gender roles are the roles or behaviors learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. Macbeth was written in 1605-1606 which was the renaissance period. In the renaissance period, women were controlled by their parents until they were married, which then the control would be turned over to the husbands. Shakespeare had a way of challenging society 's view on things(“Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance” cedarcrest.edu). In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to show that gender roles can be conquered.

More than six hundred years later the same issues of inequality and misogyny are still present in our society. The movement to fight against anti-feminism is not new. Thus, it only proves that the discrimination of women is more than centuries old. Written in 1405, The City Of Ladies is an allegorical story in response to the attack of men against women. Christine De Pizan highlights how a women are capable of good and moral character despite to the contrary of what male philosopher claimed to believe.

Eve: A Product of Milton’s Sexism For centuries, women were seen as inferior to men, alive only to cater to their unreasonable and at times completely preposterous demands. The status and representation of women for the majority of Western history was restrictive. They were entitled to very few legal, political or economic rights and were expected to submit themselves to the incongruous needs of the patriarchal society. The traditional gender roles confined them to the domestic sphere. This continued from the Renaissance all the way up to the Age of Enlightenment, after which the attitude toward women began to improve.

Christine De Pizan’s storied life laid the groundwork for her lasting works and strong opinions. Her father’s insistence on teaching her as much as his sons, although her mother objected to this, was a key factor in allowing Christine’s career to actually occur after her husband’s death. Her education pushed back against the norms of the time and allowed her to be extraordinary. Many of her works focus on wisdom and reason as a guiding source for not only Christine De Pizan the author, but also for Christine De Pizan the ‘character’. In Ancient Greece, they worshipped the goddess Athena, sometimes given the epithet Pallas, as the Goddess of Wisdom and War among other things.

However, the quality of life for a noble man’s wife was certainly better and also less dangerous, and she was often thought skills in cooking or medicine. The code of chivalry in medieval texts raised women up as objects to be admired, cherished and protected, a venerated position similar to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and the romantic love between knights and their ladies was glorified. However, the reality was very different their lives were difficult and far from the ideal or romantic. These socialised beliefs also translated into literary texts. There are also very few examples of gender equality in medieval literature or history.

In the essay, "Did Women have a Renaissance?”, Joan Kelly-Gadol, presents a feminist insight into women's role in society during the Renaissance and how women did not have a Renaissance. While Margaret L. King, who wrote, “Women and High Power”, offers the roles of women and learning from 1300-1800 and argues that women did . The question of, “did women benefit from the Renaissance?”, is an extremely loaded question. Like every argument or question there are two sides to every story. One way, like Margaret L. King to look at this argument is that women experienced the Renaissance just like men did.

The Medieval Ages, like many eras of civilization, provided little advantages for women. They were seen as lower in status than men, therefore more subservient. Throughout the Decameron, written by Giovanni Boccaccio, there are several depictions of women that both dispute and support this. Three of the best examples show women both honored and brave yet objectified and belittled. Boccaccio’s Decameron includes several stories told by a group trying to escape the Black Death.

There were some authors in the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance and into reformation, such as Dante Alighieri, Boccaccio, and Macchiaveli, who wrote about women in a way different than they were recognized in the common thought of the time. Though they still maintained the iconic stance as a “lady on a pedestal” they also had an element of intellect, which an ability to have cunning thought and wit. It was common for the women of this time to mainly seen for their body, as an icon of their status, and the ultimate downfall of man. Women were also incapable of being independent or having intelligence that could even come close to that of a man. In the literature of the authors listed above, however, they possessed intellect, cunning thought, and knowledge that not only matched their male counterparts but surpassed as well as a strong character that was unusual for the woman of that time

Christine de Pisan's quest for truth in the Book of the City of the Ladies The Book of the City of the Ladies ultimately represents and reinforces woman’s values during the text. Pisan uses three major characters to develop her thesis, which are Lady Reason, Lady Rectitude, and Lady Justice. These characters were used as reference and evidence of the woman’s true worth, more importantly they help the reader understand the main argument in a unified and convincing fashion, this argument will be discussed later on. We will study and research the most important aspects of Pisan’s Book of the City of the Ladies quest for truth, specifically on the character Lady Reason, with an emphasis on discussed issues; which are woman’s education, causes of misogyny, and inventions.