The Book of the City of Ladies (Penguin Classics)

Christine falls asleep while contemplating why women in her society get such a bad rap, and has a long dream about exemplary women and their characteristics.Did you ever wonder why we just accept that women in the Middle Ages were considered demons in disguise? Christine tells us all about what she thinks of that concept and of those who insist on spreading such maliciousness, all in an engaging story full of examples of brave, courageous, intelligent, pious, beautiful, generous women. The book was written to dispel some of the nastier slanders then current about women, but it's still good reading today.I confess that during the part about martyrs I wandered off a bit (it is some gruesome stuff in places), but as a period source, it's definitely one every history maven ought to have. Christine is intelligent, observant, and witty; her writing fairly sparkles with indignation over the treatment of women and her sardonic amusement at those men spreading those lies. While hyper-Catholic and in places highly allegorical (and in many places its version of "history" is highly questionable, of course), it is an essential look at a time period where women didn't often make their views known in written form.This book is distinct from "The Book of the Treasure of the City of Ladies".

I read this book after seeing it mentioned by an online course (Harvard X) on Women's History. De Pizan was clearly a remarkable and audacious writer. In this book she uses her considerable literary skills to build a logical, and creative case for the worth and abilities of women. In doing so she was unafraid of challenging the patriarchy of her time directly. The book, in this translation, is easy to read and to follow the author's arguments. It is also fun to view history and mythology through her eyes. it does get a little repetitious after a while. I also found a couple of passages that reflected the anti-semitism of her time. Disappointing, but typical for Christians of her era. In spite of my quibbles, I found this a wonderful book! Well worthwhile for any student of history.

Jung would have had a field day with this account, written in the form of a dream which came to the author. Christine de Pizan was one of the most remarkable women of her day or any day, scholarly and self-supporting in a time when women were mostly without rights. She wrote this book in defense of women, who were generally portrayed in literature as shallow, petty, and the source of most of the evil in the world. She lists and describes many of the great women of history with whom she will people her City of Ladies; these descriptions are very interesting reading, particularly for scholars of classical literature, Shakespeare etc., because some of them contain details about characters we're familiar with not readily available from other sources. Not a book for everyone, but fascinating if this is within your field of interest.

Not for information, but an entertaining read. De Pizan used Boccaccio's "On Famous Women" as her primary resource, so many facts are wrong and some of his attitude bleeds through. She was ahead of her time. The book provides an entertaining insight into what passed for feminism in the Middle Ages.

I read this book based on the Hofstra University Honors College Required Reading List. I was curious about the book and found it to be an intriguing read as an early text (1405 AD - Late European Middle Ages) extolling the intellectual capabilities of women and their contributions to western civilization. All of Pizan’s perspectives were understandable and have relevancy now for analyzing the expanding awareness of how women contribute to society and what sorts of obstacles they still face in pursuing their chosen personal & professional paths. I recommend this book, for men & women, as a summer read for incoming college freshmen.H.L Quintanilla IICAPT, USN (ret)

I bought this book for my granddaughter. It was required reading for her high school literature class.

Excellent and important book

Book was excellent condition