The Book Of The City Of Ladies Summary

Christine de Pizan and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda were both influential authors from their times, despite addressing very different settings in their literary works. Pizan wrote The Book of the City of Ladies, a metaphorical story about building a city where women could thrive, protected and segregated from the sexist attacks of men. Sepulveda wrote Democrates Alter in support and defense of colonial conquest and slavery of the native peoples in the New World. Despite the apparent lack of connection between these two works of literature, they both support the idea of natural virtue that exists within some and is absent in others. Pizan believes that it exists within women, while Sepulveda claims that it is a characteristic of people in civilized …show more content…
The Book of The City of Ladies claims that women are more naturally virtous than men because women are compassionate and pious whereas men are envious, lustful, and violent. Democrates Alter argues instead that civilized people are more naturally inclined to virtue than uncivilized people because civilized people are more human and are in line with Christian values. If what these texts claimed was to be true, it would mean that some people would be superior in virtue and morality than others without true cause. It would imply that being a good person comes naturally to some and is difficult for others to achieve, even with hard work. If The Book of The City of Ladies in particular was right, it would mean that many of society's gender roles are justified because there natural differences between men’s and women’s demeanours. For Democrates Alter on the other hand it would mean that the Spanish had justifiable reasons to invade and conquer the people of the New World in order to instill Christianity in them. Pizan and Sepulveda’s beliefs on who has an inherent propensity for virtue may not align, but it is an important part of both of their