Ladies In The Book Of The City Of Ladies

In The Book of the City of Ladies, there are four main characters that all uniquely develop the utopian model of Christine's "City of Ladies." The first character, and most important, is Christine de Pizan as herself who connects the real world that she exists in to that of an imaginative world and its city symbolic of phylogeny and the reality of a women's virtue. In her fantasy world she is ignorant of women's virtue and talent and asks the three virtues of the validity of male misogyny. These three virtues, Lady Reason, Lady Rectitude, and Lady Justice, all carry a tool that helps Christine understand and build her city. Lady Reason is the first to step up and dispel Christine's ignorance and insecurity. She is the first to educate
Christine on women's virtue and nobility, and also announces the intention of building a city. She brings with her a mirror encrusted with jewels that represent wisdom, and clarity. When she looks into it she gains self-knowledge, which gives her motivation to pursue the truth of the virtues of women. With this motivation, Lady Reason helps excavate and build the foundations that her entire city must be built atop of. To help shape and strengthen the new foundations and walls that Christine and Lady Reason have built, Lady Rectitude brings a shining ruler to carefully measure what has already been built, and briskly modify it. This ruler is a reminder that Christine's words must be exact and proportionate. This ruler also acts as a divine judge that separates what right and wrong, and as a guide to the path of what is good and not evil. This ruler allows the support of the virtuous and the punishment of the wicked. Lady Justice is the one to provide the finishing touches. She is the connection of this newly built city to the heavens and God, who will punish with divine might those who sin, particularly men who abuse or are cruel to women. God had given her a Vessel of Gold, that she then distributes amongst the people proportionate to their morality and virtue. This Vessel of Gold represents the reward and salvation that awaits the faithful. The Vessel is also stamped with the fleur-de-lis which represents link to France, and more importantly the Christian kingdom of heaven. By acting ignorant and asking the three guides, Christine appears as part of the audience instead of the writer and allows the audience to learn with her. This allows the personification of these three virtues and their tools, which in turn allows the virtues to become teachers to not only Christine, but the audience also. The audience can thus trace back the logic and conclude on their own accord the criticism of a male dominated world. The main characters in the story allow for a very effective rhetorical device to communicate to a male centric world, that women are invaluable.