The Metaphor of Construction

           In The City of Ladies, Pizan constructs a city with the help of three mysterious women who go by the names of Lady Reason, Rectitude, and Justice. In doing so, these angelic women assist Pizan through her confusion concerning the misrepresentation of women in literature.  While Pizan portrays the City of Ladies as a literal endeavor, this extended metaphor speaks to her understanding of the maltreatment of women and how to properly mediate this tension between genders.

Lady Reason speaks to Pizan first, proposing the idea of the City of Ladies and communicating its importance. She ensures that with the help of herself and her companions, Pizan will be able to construct this city. “‘The City of Ladies, for whose foundation and completion you will take and draw from the three of us fresh water as from clear fountains, and we will give you plenty of material, stronger and more durable than marble, even if it were cemented,’” (124). Her address communicates that Pizan will need the help of Reason, Rectitude, and Justice in order to properly create the city that aims to protect women from the slanders of men. Their contributions represent the metaphorical aspects that are vital to this endeavor. As their names suggest, Lady Reason, Rectitude and Justice all offer different things that manifest accordingly in the construction metaphor.

Lady Reason assists Pizan in laying the foundation for the city, which she describes to be understanding. She believes that the basis of women’s protection is the understanding of men’s sexist fallacy. By using her reason, Lady Reason guides Pizan towards this understanding. “‘Take the pick of your understanding and dig deep and make a great ditch wherever you see my outlines, and I will help you carry away the soil on my own shoulders,’” (127). Understanding is the first step in building the City of Ladies because it reveals men’s false premises of the subjugation of women. In order to defend women, Pizan must prove that this subjugation is not sound through the process of reasoning. Pizan proceeds with a long process of questioning in order to gain understanding through Lady Reason’s reason. “In order to obey her command, [Pizan] struck with all [her] force in this way…”, imploring as to why men would subjugate women through their literature (130). Using reason, Pizan and Lady Reason conclude that “neither the eminence nor the lowliness of people lies in their bodies according to their sex, but in the perfection of morals and virtues,” (132). Pizan lays the foundations of the City of Ladies with the understanding that women are not inherently inferior to men. Her understanding metaphorically provides grounds for the promotion of virtuous women in the form of the City of Ladies.

Lady Rectitude implements her strong sense of morality to build the city walls that defend its women against any opposition. When first introduced, “‘Lady Rectitude holds a ruler in her hand with which she separates right from wrong and which will serve to measure the walls of the city,” (125). This ruler that defines the city walls speaks to her ability to protect women from opposition with immoral grounds. She defends women with the religious justification that God created the soul of men and women equally in his divine image. Since God never prejudiced against women, neither should men. Lady Rectitude continues that “‘God has never had, nor has, any objections to the feminine sex…now the walls I have built for you as the enclosure of the City of Ladies must suffice; they are finished and covered with plaster,” (141). Lady Rectitude protects women with theistic morals that defend against any subjugation of women due to the example set by God. The city walls stand as the physical manifestation of this moral barrier. 

Lady Justice assures that virtuous women gain entry into the City of Ladies. As the ladies have previously established, virtue, rather than gender, distinguishes superiority. To protect the integrity of the city, she commands that “no one will live except all ladies of renown and worthy of praise: for those who are without virtue the walls of [the] city will be closed,” (124). Lady Justice insists that a virtuous standard must be implemented in order to distinguish those who gain entry into the City of Ladies. She continues by presenting examples of such virtuous women, those who are honorable, wise, and humble. These virtues qualify them as exemplary women of the City of Ladies and Lady Justice willingly grants them entry into the sacred city. In this manner, Lady Justice dictates the population of women that reside in the City of Ladies. Her justice creates a community of virtuous women who deserve this safeguarding.

            In the construction of the City of Ladies, the three ladies that assist Pizan represent specific metaphorical aspects. Lady Reason implores Pizan to discover that the subjugation of women rests on false grounds. The true understanding that she promotes concludes that women are not inherently inferior to men due to the equality of the sexes in terms of goodness. In doing so, Lady Reason provides the foundation for the defense of women. As Lady Rectitude defends, God created men and women in his divine image, favoring neither as a superior sex. She protects women due to the theistic morals that proclaim both sexes of deserving equal treatment. Her protection in the form of upstanding morals composes the sturdy walls that defend the city. The ladies continue to argue that virtue, instead of sex, defines goodness, which Lady Justice discerns. This virtue grants entry into the City of Ladies. Lady Justice therefore justly determines the community of virtuous women that reside in the city based on their true merit. This trilogy that defines the City of Ladies implies that reason, rectitude, and justice are necessary in promoting the welfare of women. These three factors encourage an understanding of why women deserve equal treatment, a defense of their equal treatment, and a means to determine true goodness exemplified by women. In adhering to the requests of the three ladies, the sexism that Pizan encounters can be properly mediated.