Christine de Pizan’s Book of the
Three Virtues is a continuation of her City of the Ladies, and deals with how a
woman can achieve self-improvement. She presents two contrasting paths – that of
active duty towards our fellow humans, and the contemplative path, which
requires a full withdrawal from the world so as to better pursue spiritual
matters. Both are good paths, and lead to heaven, but are achieved with nearly
opposite actions. The paths can be equated to a religious comparison, detailing
the differences between the world of men and the world of God. The world of God
is clearly the morally superior goal.
Christine de Pizan’s chapters on
the duties of women constantly stress the importance of devotion to one’s
husband. “She will deliberate with all her powers to see whether she can do
something, all the while preserving her lord’s honor, to avoid this war.” (163)
While a woman must attempt to avoid the horrors of war, the honor of her husband
is paramount. Protecting her own honor comes next. A lady must “love honor…more
than her life” (165). An honorable life, Pizan argues, must be the ultimate
goal for a woman who interacts with the world at large. One who is dishonorable
“will suffer reproach, dead or alive, as long as there is any memory of her.”
(165). A woman who does not act well will be remembered as such -- Pizan is
making the argument that worldly reputation should be the pinnacle of the world
of man, and is made up of good acts that will bring her and her lord honor.
This idea contrasts starkly with
that required for following the contemplative path. She who takes the
contemplative path “loves God so much and so ardently that she completely
forgets…everyone, even herself.” (160) The
contemplative path cares nothing for status or position in the world. “Her way
of life is to…remain solitary and apart from everyone else.” (160) Honor is a worldly goal, which has no place a
path so dedicated to God. Pizan clearly states that the active path, though “more
useful to the world than the [contemplative]” (161) is clearly not as dignified
or noble.
Pizan’s message, though outwardly a
lecture as to the different paths that one may take to become a Good Princess (or
any other kind of good woman) has an underlying message – while it is noble and
honorable to do good deeds in this world, all the good that one can do in the
scope of the mortal world pales before the glory of the eternal realm of God.
By incorporating this second, less obvious message, Pizan gives herself the
moral high ground, positioning herself as a believer. As she is merely the
messenger rather than the author of the work, it is harder to refute.
I agree with Gabe's analysis of the two divergent paths to a good life presented by Pizan. I saw that this observation connects back to an earlier argument made in the city of ladies. in that book Pizan states that "if humans misuse the goods their creator has promised and granted them... it is because of the wickedness... of those who misuse them, and not because the things in themselves are not good"(139). Here we also see the goodness of God being paramount to everything and the spiritual intentions trumping the physical realities.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Christine's text, I almost laughably see a contrast with Simone de Beauvoir. The proposed ideal standard to which each writer holds for the potential of women is distinctly different in its aspirations but remarkably similar in the emphasis of the importance of achieving these aspirations; to borrow de Beauvoir's term, to achieve transcendence. A caveat must be understood in the use of this term, that de Pizan's and de Beauvoir's two definitions of appropriate female aspiration are different, but that moving beyond societal restraint and social convictions is ultimately most important as long as the movement is towards the specifically defined "transcendant" state in regards to either text.
ReplyDelete