The Book of the City of Ladies
by Christine de Pizan · Le Livre de la Cité des Dames
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1405
- Era
- Renaissance
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- French
- Length
- Medium · 280 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Book of the City of Ladies, translated by Rosalind Brown-GrantPenguin Classics, 1999A clear complete translation with an introduction on Christine's life and the querelle des femmes.
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An allegorical defence of women written in 1405 in reply to the misogyny of clerical writers and the Romance of the Rose. Christine, despairing at what men have written about her sex, is visited by three crowned ladies, Reason, Rectitude and Justice, who help her build a walled city out of the lives of virtuous women drawn from Boccaccio, scripture and history, from Semiramis and the Amazons to Dido, Lucretia, the Virgin Mary and the saints. It is the first work in French by a woman to argue the case for women.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Book of the City of Ladies are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
