The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Penguin Classics)
by Christine de Pizan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Christine de PizanIntroduction: Sarah Lawson
Translator: Sarah Lawson
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-30
ISBN: 0140449507
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Catholic hypocrisy
Summary: 2 Stars
This book of precepts is a fundamentalist Catholic text. Because `you are a poor and miserable creature that will die shortly, food for the worms', I shall write a book for you about the perfect moral behavior necessary to gain a place in Heaven.
What is this moral behavior?
First, humility, `although it is appropriate to the rank of her husband and of her class that she should receive honors.'
Secondly, `just hypocrisy', `although almsgiving should be done secretly, it would be better to give publicly because she would set a good example for others.'
Third, charity. `She has such great pity for people she sees in sin and misery that she weeps for them as though their distress were her own.'
Fourth, justice: an unjust God? `If you recognize that temporal wealth has come to you from God, you would think that God, who has not divided the wealth equally, was unjust ... not at all, because he has done it so that in giving and distributing to the poor, you can deserve your wealth from God.'
And the poor themselves? `We exhort them to patience because of the hope of the crown that is promised them. Waiting for the possession of Heaven by the merit of poverty patiently borne, rejoice in this great promise of joy!'
This book throws also a shrill light on the role of the confessor as an intriguer: `Because she is on friendly terms with her confessor, if she sees in her husband any spot of foul sin, she will have her confessor tell him'.
This reminds one of the role of the `sacrament' of confession in the Catholic Church, where women were terrorized and insulted: You have two children, but for a number of years you have no children anymore. What are you doing? This is not a catholic behavior. You will be damned!
However, there is one extremely positive point in her catechism: her anti-war stance. `Bearing in mind the great evils and infinite cruelties, destruction, massacres and detriments to the country that result from war.'
This `book of the three virtues' is a perfect example of a medieval religious text. It has only historical value.
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