Christine addresses marriage and the role women play in it.She asks Lady Rectitude if it really is women who make married life so hard. Is it because of the 'wrong they cause'? Lady Rectitude goes on to talk about all the women who live a life of suffering because of their husbands actions. How many women stayed silent through their suffering. How many men went out drinking while the women was home with a house full of kids. How can these husbands be so miserable in their marriage if they are never there? A marriage takes two people to work and it is not always the woman who is the problem. Men can make married life just as difficult (if not more) than women. She acknowledges that not all marriages are terrible. "Not all marriages are conducted with such spite, for there are those who live together in great peacefulness, love, and loyalty because the partners are virtuous, considerate, and reasonable. And although there are bad husbands, there are also very good ones, truly valiant and wise, and the women who meet them were born in a lucky hour."
What makes Christine's writing so powerful is the way she asks questions and then has one of the allegorical ladies answer them. She asks if women are the reason for miserable marriages and then Lady Rectitude answers and defends the female sex with examples of women who were very committed to their husbands. They also speak of the education of women. This is what I found most interesting. Some men don't want their daughters to be educated because they would become immoral. She addresses this with "Here you can clearly see that not all opinions of men are based on reason and that these men are wrong." She then goes into examples of women who were educated. Some men believed that their daughters should be educated. (Christine's father included.) These educated women, daughters of great princes and such, went on to either make decisions in their father's place, teach in their father's place, or persuade others to see their side. It did not ruin these women. Men are afraid that women will become smarter than them. It is more a question of pride and insecurity. When women are educated they compete with men on a level mental playing field. This scared the man's ego.
Her greatest argument (given the time period) is that even God's scriptures don't speak ill of women."You will find little said against them in the holy legends of Jesus Christ and His Apostles; instead, even in the histories of all the saints, just as you can see yourself, you will find through God's grace many cases of extraordinary firmness and strength in women." There were many cases of great women helping saints in their time of need or taking them in and providing shelter. If God is the final word than how can men say that women are not strong? What I find as a fault in this section is that while they speak of women helping saints they still place women in the "homemaker" lifestyle. Women taking saints into their homes and cooking them dinner.
In the end of the book Christine addresses the future of women. She doesn't seem to be trying to replace this patriarchal society only defending what women contribute to it. Defending that women are an important part of society and not a lower class citizen compared to men. In order to keep the walls of the city strong, women can't depend on the great women of the past. Women must continue to live a virtuous life and add bricks to the walls of the city. Women are responsible for defending the city. By living a virtuous life and living within these 'standards', women can defend this great city. It is up to the women of the future to mold the way women are perceived and treated. She doesn't limit the power of women to just those born into nobility, she means every one who has a 'noble spirit'. "I could tell of countless ladies of different social backgrounds, maidens, married women, and widows, in whom God manifested His virtues with amazing force and constancy." It is not about your family tree or a birth right, it is about who are inside and how you carry yourself and live your life.
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