The Book of the City of Ladies Literary Elements

Fiction; allegory

13th-century France

The narrator of the text is also its author, Christine de Pizan.

Argumentative, informative, celebratory, reverent

The protagonists of the text are the numerous women catalogued throughout who redeem women in the eyes of society. The antagonists of the text are, implicitly, misogynistic men and others who do not believe in women's worth.

The central conflict of the text is between de Pizan and Mathéolus, or between a proto-feminist ideology and a misogynistic outlook on society.

The climax of the text occurs when Christine finishes building the city and populates it with virtuous women.

The numerous references to the Virgin Mary foreshadow her eventual rule over the City of Ladies at the end of the text.

Criticisms of men, while plentiful in the text, are often understated, likely as a means of protecting the book (and its author) from accusations of radicalism.

The text includes numerous allusions to ancient Greek and Roman society and culture. The text also relies heavily on allusions to Christianity and the Bible.

Important imagery in the text includes the Amazons, construction, agriculture, and the Virgin Mary.

A glaring paradox in the text is Christine's argument at the end that women should be subject to their husbands. This announcement seems to counter everything the book has already strived to accomplish regarding women's empowerment. However, the ideas expressed in the text are already radical, and this conclusion was likely a way of appeasing readers who were used to a patriarchal structure in society.

The city built by the Amazonian women is presented as a parallel for the City of Ladies, where strong and virtuous women will be kept safe in a collective community.

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The most significant personification in the text is the representation of the three virtues of reason, rectitude, and justice as three noble, intelligent, and formidable women.