The Virtue In Christine De Pizan's The Book Of The City Of Ladies
In Christine de Pizan’s “The Book of the City of Ladies,” the text surrounding the wife of Bernabo illustrates the view that a woman’s worth lies solely in her chastity. The highest compliment for a woman concerns her sexual honor, and good conduct in this area is valued above all else. When praising his wife, Bernabo applauds “her exemplary chastity…above all her other virtues” (Pizan 164). Ambrose, who seeks to prove this notion wrong, inquires others about her and receives “such good reports of her that he despaired of winning his bet” (Pizan 164). If the townspeople’s praises discouraged Ambrose, then the subject of their praise must have been centered around her chastity instead of her other qualities. These compliments are positive in
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At the possibility of death, however, Bernabo’s wife displays her talent of charisma and “[manages] to persuade him to let her go” (Pizan 165). All of her actions following are marked by intelligence, although these talents have not been aforementioned. Once alone in a new country, in an act that shows her wise nature, she “cut off her hair and disguised herself as a young man” (Pizan 165) so as to join the workforce and make a new living. At her lowest point, Bernabo’s wife understands that a woman is not valued to the point that she can make her own money, therefore she must act as a man and call herself Sagurat. Sagurat begins to display her many other talents, immediately gaining a job and “[serving] [Senor Ferant] so well that he…had never had such a fine attendant” (Pizan 165). She then works for the sultan, who steals her away and makes “Sagurat his chief steward” and later “[puts] Sagurat in control of all his affairs” (Pizan 165). This level of advancement illustrates how cunning and intelligent Bernabo’s wife truly is, although her lack of promiscuity completely overshadows her other talents. Her professional advancement also exceeds that of Bernabo; as the right hand of the sultan, Sagurat achieves a higher level than her husband. Although Ambrose claims that “all women are weak-willed and can easily be won
At the possibility of death, however, Bernabo’s wife displays her talent of charisma and “[manages] to persuade him to let her go” (Pizan 165). All of her actions following are marked by intelligence, although these talents have not been aforementioned. Once alone in a new country, in an act that shows her wise nature, she “cut off her hair and disguised herself as a young man” (Pizan 165) so as to join the workforce and make a new living. At her lowest point, Bernabo’s wife understands that a woman is not valued to the point that she can make her own money, therefore she must act as a man and call herself Sagurat. Sagurat begins to display her many other talents, immediately gaining a job and “[serving] [Senor Ferant] so well that he…had never had such a fine attendant” (Pizan 165). She then works for the sultan, who steals her away and makes “Sagurat his chief steward” and later “[puts] Sagurat in control of all his affairs” (Pizan 165). This level of advancement illustrates how cunning and intelligent Bernabo’s wife truly is, although her lack of promiscuity completely overshadows her other talents. Her professional advancement also exceeds that of Bernabo; as the right hand of the sultan, Sagurat achieves a higher level than her husband. Although Ambrose claims that “all women are weak-willed and can easily be won