Book Of The Cities Of Ladies Analysis

Nature – such a usual and seemingly insignificant word. When one thinks of the word “nature”, one thinks of the grassy plains, trees, rivers, mountains, flowers, and animals. If one looks up synonyms for the word “nature” on Microsoft Word, the synonyms will be wildlife, landscape, and countryside, because that is how people typically define the word “nature” in today’s time; however, the term “nature” seems to have had a different meaning in 1405, which is when the Book of the Cities of Ladies was written. In the Book of the Cities of Ladies, the term “nature” is not used to describe wildlife as one would expect, instead the term “nature” has two other different meaning that reflects the major theme/topic of the story, which is the extraordinary

characteristics of countless of women.
When gazing at the term “nature”, one realizes in some places it is capitalized and in some places, it is not. Focusing on the capitalized version of the term, “Nature”, one realizes that the word does action verbs, as the text states “Nature herself used astrological signs”. Considering that the word “Nature” is capitalized and can actively do things, one concludes that the word “Nature” refers to Mother Nature. Provided with evidence from the text, Nature is like a deity or God-like figure that bestows gifts or traits on man-kind, as the text states “Courage comes from a natural, vital force, which is a gift from God that He allows Nature to implant in some rational beings more than others”. Also, the word “Nature” is put into the same sentence as God, “As for bravery and physical strength are concerned, neither God nor Nature has done the female sex a disservice by depriving them of these attributes”, which implies that Nature must be highly esteemed to be put in a similar category with God. The word “Nature” is important to the story because it is “Nature” who is giving extraordinary strength, intelligence, and courage to the female characters, such as Semiranis, Thamiris, and Minerva, in the narrative. Also, the text implies that Nature gives women something better than strength, as it states “If Nature decided not to endow with a powerful physique, she none the less made up for it by giving them a most virtuous disposition: that of loving God and being fearful of disobeying His commandments”. The term “Nature” is very significant to the plot of the story because Nature, as well as God, gives the legendary women in the story their many attributes.
After analyzing the context of the lowercase word “nature”, one can conclude that it means personality.

The word “nature” is used in the text to describe the typical characteristics of women. For example, the quote “it is undeniable that women are by nature fearful creatures, having weak, frail bodies and lacking in physical strength”, is stating that women generally are fearful, weak, and frail by nature, which is just describing women’s typical characteristics. The word “nature” and its meaning is extremely significant and reflects the overall theme of the Book of the city of Ladies because the whole text is about revealing and discussing the true nature of women, since women are usually depicted in a negative light by men. As the author/character Christine states, “an extraordinary thought became planted in my mind, which made me wonder why on earth do so many men, both clerks and others, have said and continue to say and write such awful, damning things about women and their ways”, she is thinking upon the slander of women and starts to conclude that all the appalling depictions of women must be true, which is when the three goddesses, Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, appear to rebuke her thoughts. The three goddesses’ purpose is to explain to Christine the true nature of women and that men’s depiction of women’s nature and ways is false. First, the three goddesses explain how the nature of most women, which is being weaker than men, is a blessing as the text states,

“women are lucky to be deficient in bravery and physical strength because they are at least spared from committing and being punished for the acts of appalling cruelty, the murders and terrible violent deeds which men who equipped with the necessary strength have performed in the and still do today”. The text also discusses how some women possess intelligence, such as Dido (founded the city Carthage), Nicostrata (founded Rome and created Latin alphabet, and Minerva (invented countless sciences and the art of making weapons from iron and steel). Although it is typical in a woman’s nature to be weaker than a man, there are exceptions. The text mentions several strong and fearsome women such as Semiranis and many of the Amazon women. The term “nature” reflects the overall theme and is arguably one of the most important terms in the Book of the City of Ladies.
The history of the word nature definitely has changed over time; however, the changes in the meaning do not complicates the understanding of the text. To figure out the meaning of the word “nature” in the text, one can either use context clues or the Oxford English Dictionary. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “nature” historically means “senses relating to physical or bodily power, strength, or substance”. The Oxford English Dictionary also gives an example of how to use this meaning of the term “nature” in a sentence. “The nature of Man is of greater strength at a young age”. This definition and usage of the term “nature” is very similar the way it is used in The Book of the city of Ladies. There is no mention in the Oxford English Dictionary of the term “nature” relating to Mother Nature or any kind of divinity. There is also no mention of the term ever meaning wildlife like it does today; Nevertheless, the term “nature” has different meanings.
Through deep analysis of the text and the significance of the word “nature”, one would see that the entire setting of the story is based on the nature of women because it is in women’s nature to gather together and engage in deep dialogue about the great character and great deeds of legendary women and modern day women.

Phrases such as “she is a such a strong woman,” and “I am a strong woman” are very popular, because women still esteem women who possess great strength — whether it be physical or mental strength. Women may not be conquering land and enemies like Semiranis, but women are still conquering other fierce battles, such as abuse, addiction, illness, death, inequality, and so much more. Therefore, think not that women do not possess the strength and fight in battles like from the times of old, but instead understand that women still do have that amazing Amazon strength, it just that for many the battles are depression, divorce, et cetera. Women may not be creating alphabets like Nicostrata or inventing sciences like Minerva, but women are still channeling the same intelligence that the ancient renowned women channeled. Thousands of women are involved in science, technology, literature, and arts. Like Semiranis who was a leader and warrior, there are countless female politicians and females soldiers. In conclusion, one should not read this text in awe that women were able to do incredible things, but instead one should read this text in astonishment that women are

still doing amazing deeds and have been doing remarkable deeds for centuries.