Christine de Pisan

The City of Ladies

radio vaudeville

Editor: Željka Turčinović

Translation, dramatisation and direction:
Jasna Mesarić

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 Christine de Pisan: The City of Ladies

The script for radio musical-satirical vaudeville, dealing with the unfathomable
male-female relations, was written on the basis of the medieval novel “The Book
of the City of Ladies” by Christine de Pisan.

Christine de Pisan (1365-1431), daughter of an Italian nobleman, and from the

age of fifteen wife of the French court secretary. Widowed at twenty five, she
started writing to be able to support herself and her children – the first woman
who earned her living by writing. In addition to numerous commissioned works,
many books of poetry, she wrote the work “The City of Ladies” or “The Book of
the City of Ladies”, a summary about the position of woman in the society, a
work that pleads for women in the controversy with a misogynous book “Roman
de la Rose” by Jean de Meun and “The Lamentations” by Matheolus, French
poet from the 13th century.
Although she pledged for the equality of women in moral and intellectual sense,
Christine de Pisan in reality refused to accept the real state and order of things
at the time when she had lived and she strived towards equality within the
bounds of the medieval society.

The story of Christine and us begins here.

Characters:

CHRISTINE
LADY REASON
LADY RECTITUDE
LADY JUSTICE
FEMALE CANTOR

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1 Overture

Chaotic atmosphere at the beginning – general hubbub, a composer tests

instruments, actors rehearse lines and tune their voices, sound-engineers set up
microphones.

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras…

Ovid: “Metamorphoses” (First canto, 5)

CHRISTINE: … chaos! …

VOICES: … we came … we came … we came to chase out …

JUSTICE: … theology! …

CHRISTINE: … chaos! …

REASON: … we came to chase out that same delusion you lived in, so that
from now on … all the deserving women … can have a sanctuary …

RECTITUDE: … all the deserving women …

CHRISTINE: Chaos … chaos! …

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras …

REASON: … all the deserving … deserving …

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras …

Music

RECTITUDE: … now, about content …

REASON: …aha …

JUSTICE: … about characters … about themes, motifs, symbols … about

important citations … about key facts …

REASON: … and the list of roles: lady Reason … listen! … helps Christine to
set up the foundations and construction of outer walls of an imaginary city! She
speaks of prominent women in the field of education … politics and defence!
She cites numerous examples of wisdom women demonstrate. Then …

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CHRISTINE: chaos … chaos! …

Music

RECTITUDE: … well then, lady Rectitude! …

REASON: … still, a woman! …
JUSTICE: … and a lady! …
RECTITUDE: … a girl! …

RECTITUDE: …well then, lady Rectitude … praises women as prophets,

wives, daughters, in conceiving the City of Ladies and populating the city with
honourable and exceptional women!

JUSTICE: … and … lady Justice … She finishes the building of walls, she
adds doors and door-posts, and debates about women who sacrificed themselves
for their religion …

RECTITUDE: … wait … wait! … in the end … in the end …

REASON: … and then … Christine …

Music

FEMALE CANTOR (whispering): Ante mare et terras …

CHRISTINE: Woman is chimera! … Woman is chimera! … how can she claim

that? …

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras …

Curtain

FEMALE CANTOR: Wait! We need this … yes, here …

CHRISTINE: … Chaos! … chaos!

Music
Curtain

FEMALE CANTOR: … wait, wait … we need this …

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REASON: Christine de Pisan (1365-1431), daughter of an Italian nobleman,
from the age of fifteen wife of the French court secretary. Widowed at twenty
five, she started writing to be able to support herself and her children – the first
woman who earned her living by writing. So, in addition to numerous
commissioned works, many books of poetry, she wrote her own work “The City
of Ladies” or “The Book of the City of Ladies” about the position of woman in
the medieval society …

RECTITUDE: … for a thorough analysis of text and context, see “The History
of Book in the Middle Ages” in PDF, then “European Medieval Literature” and
similar resources, also in English: “The Renaissance Reader”, Kenneth J.
Atchity, … Boccaccio, Giovanni: “De mulieribus claris” … “The Book of the
City of Ladies”, Rosalind Brown-Grant … I’ll repeat, because I read it wrongly
… “The Book of the City of Ladies”, Rosalind Brown-Grant … “The Allegory
of Female Authority”, Maureen Quilligan, “Dialogue on Eternal Love” Margaret
King, etc. … etc. … etc. …

JUSTICE: … also on several portals, that state, for instance: “… If we had the
proceedings Theology and Sex together with Philosophy and Sex, we could not
only understand the spiritual pain of Christine de Pisan, but we could also
better manage the contemporary dilemmas on male-female identities and their
roles …” End of quotation. Yes, right … Do you want it again?

RECTITUDE: … aha … I did not understand …

JUSTICE: Do you want it again?

REASON: … no …

Female cantor practices a motet

JUSTICE: And? … What now?

REASON: … ah, nothing … Christine quotes some themes from Ovid’s …

JUSTICE: … “Ars amatoria”? … “Remedia amoris” – “Guide for Falling out

of Love”’

REASON: No, not yet … “Metamorphoses”! …

Music – violins

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JUSTICE (reading): Before seas and earth and heaven, that covers all
One was the face of nature,

Chaos was its name; a rude and indigested heap

Music in fast rhythm

Nothing but a lifeless bulk, warring seeds …

(Ovid: Metamorphoses, First canto, 5-9)

REASON: Wait! … Because, footnote no. 1 says: “Depicting the creation of the
world, earth and its creatures, Ovid sticks to Stoicism in all things.”

CHRISTINE: … Chaos! … Chaos!

RECTITUDE: Look, look!

REASON: … let’s hear …

RECTITUDE: Footnote no. 2 says: “Not one pagan mythology teaches that the
world originated from nothing, so the Stoic philosophy teaches the same, that
there was chaos at the beginning …

REASON: …chaos! …

RECTITUDE: … that split into four elements: earth, sea, air and heaven,

REASON: … earth, sea, air and heaven …

RECTITUDE: … and each of these elements received different inhabitants.”

JUSTICE: … tants, tants, tants …

JUSTICE: … But Matheolus’s … Mat-heolus’s … Lamentations … that hatred

… it’s …

REASON: … Math, Math blew it here …

RECTITUDE: … well, its awful … phew! …

CHRISTINE: … Chaos! … Chaos!

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2 Big Can-can Scene

FEMALE CANTOR: Let’s go! … Can-can!

THREE WOMEN: Yoohoo! … Yoohoo! … Can-can! … Le Can-can! …

Moulin Rouge! … Yoohoo!! … Vive la France!! …. la, la, la! … Can-can! …

REASON: Le Can-can! …

JUSTICE: I would not repeat that …

3 Christine – confession

Music

CHRISTINE: One day I was sitting in my study surrounded by books on all

topics, devoted to studying literature, my usual habit, and my mind wandered,
engrossed in opinions of a few authors whom I have been researching for some
time already. Quite accidentally, an unusual book came to my hands, it was not
mine, it was given to me. When I took it, I saw that the author was Matheolus. I
often heard about that book…

REASON: Exactly… Oh, yes! … Oh, yes! … A really subtle poem, “Liber
Lamentationum Matheouli” written by the poet Mathieu de Boulogne, 1295.

CHRISTINE: Oh, God! How is this possible? How could your infinite wisdom
and goodness have created something that was not completely good? But, you
cannot be wrong! And still, there are so many heavy accusations, so many
judgements and conclusions against woman! I cannot understand such
abhorrence.

Music

4 Christine’s imaginary conversation with Matheolus

Matheolus’s lines are spoken by women.

REASON (MATHEOLUS): What is the point of Organon, Metaphysical

dualism, Aristotle or mathematical sciences? Because a woman surpassed all
that and tamed the master of logic!

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CHRISTINE: … what is this accusation?

JUSTICE (MATHEOLUS): … Let God destroy your soul and your body! …

CHRISTINE: … what disgust?

RECTITUDE (MATHEOLUS): … God scorch your rotten mind!!!

CHRISTINE: … really, God, a great sadness and unhappiness entered my

heart, because I hate myself and the entire female race … as if we were … as if
we were nature’s freaks … Why did you not let me come into this world as a
man, so that I would not wander, so that I would become a perfect man? …

REASON (MATHEOLUS): I shall tell you! … I! A woman can drive a man

crazy … no matter how disciplined and insightful a man is … But, I shall
denounce them, I shall reveal the real, real, corrupted female nature to everyone

CHRISTINE: I have directed my prayer to the Lord, having been deliberating

sadly for a long time because God had ordained that I dwell in this world in a
female body.

MATHEOLUS: Insolent woman mounted him as a horse, and rode him like a
donkey! … She raised her head too high when she tricked a man! … The ruler
was conquered and the role of sexes was reversed! … because she became
active, and he passive, ready to kneel in front of her!! … and … and … many
more things …

CHRISTINE: Oh, God! Have you not made a woman on purpose? Have you
not given her all the features at your own will? If you hate woman so much, why
did you create her from man’s body?

ALL THREE WOMEN (whispering): … Christine! Christine!! … pull yourself

together …

Snapping of fingers
Music

REASON: This was subtle Matheolus, poet Mathieu de Boulogne.

Jazzy music

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras …

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CHRISTINE: … forgive me my weakness in serving you …

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras … ck – ck – ck … t-t-t-t-t

…

5 How three ladies appeared in front of Christine

CHRISTINE: Exhausted by these sad thoughts, I bent my head in shame.

Suddenly, I saw a ray of light descend onto my lap, as if though sun entered the
room. The door behind me was closed, and three ladies stood in front of me.

Music

REASON: Do not fear, we want to draw you out of ignorance

it blinds you so much
that you discard what you know
consent to thinking
based on prejudices of others
don’t you see that even the greatest philosophers
those you appeal to
and against your own sex
do not see true from false
one corrects the other
and they argue endlessly
to such thinking of yours
your naiveté brought you
naiveté!

CHRISTINE: My appalled soul wondered, I asked myself who they could be.

REASON: I shall reveal to you why we came

Our arrival is not without reason
because we do not do anything without reason
we do not visit a single place without reason
we do not appear to anyone without reason
we came to disperse that same delusion
you have lived in,
so that from now on all deserving women
can have a sanctuary and protection
following the divine learning

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 women patiently suffered the worst offences
from husbands who looked unto God
for those rights of theirs
but, the time has come
that this just matter
is taken from Pharaoh’s hands
you were chosen to, with our help and advice,
build a well-fortified City
and that is why the three of us
who you see in front of you
have come to announce the building of such an edifice
with solid foundations and strong walls
that you will, with our advice and help …
so, with our advice and help …

Music – trumpet

REASON: … build only for those women

worthy of respect
because the city walls will be closed
for all those lacking virtues

FEMALE CANTOR (singing):

The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
Tic-tac, tic-tac …

REASON: We shall deliver the material

sturdier and tougher than marble
so that your city will last forever
I explained to you the reasons of our arrival
and now I shall reveal our names to you

FEMALE CANTOR (singing):

I am Reason
I am Rectitude
I am Justice …
Re-re-ctituuuude …

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 Ante mare et terras

The hour has come, for the City of Ladies

The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
Tic-tac, tic-tac …

6 Christine between sleeping and waking

CHRISTINE: Do I dream, or despair in my madness?

Music

RECTITUDE: What shall I tell you?

I am Rectitude,
I am shield and defence,
I am barrier to evil forces,
I am the lawyer of the loved,
I am the measure separating good from evil,
Those who follow me will not get lost.

CHRISTINE: Is this a trap, a temptation?

JUSTICE (talking to the rhythm of music):

I am Justice,
I am everywhere,
In heaven, on earth, and in hell,
I am in God,
And God is in me.

CHRISTINE: Why, God, did you have me born in woman’s body?

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REASON: I do not know what more I can tell you
Christine, sister
I could tell you of numerous women
from different social ranks
who are equally valuable
and deserving
as men.

CHRISTINE: Sister, I see endless benefits by which women indebted this

world, and still, men maintain that there is no evil in this world that does not
come from woman.

RECTITUDE:
Dear friend
it is exactly opposite from what they claim
did not a woman open the gates of heaven
can anyone forget the motherly care for a son
wife’s sacrifice for a husband

CHRISTINE: Men severely accuse women, taking the Latin adage as correct:
“God made a woman to speak, cry and embroider”, and they use it to attack all
women.

Music, trumpet

FEMALE CANTOR (singing):

The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
The hour has come, for the City of Ladies
Tic-tac, tic-tac …

WOMEN (whispering): I am Justice

I am force
I am Nature

Music – fast rhythm

Here women had enough

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REASON:
Your father
who was a scientist
and a philosopher
did not think that women
did not deserve to be educated

Rhythm quickly stops

RECTITUDE: … I am sorry … I was whispering and I got lost … excuse me

…

Rhythm carries on

RECTITUDE:
Quite the contrary
he was very satisfied
seeing your inclination to sciences

JUSTICE:
Female logic of your mother
on the contrary
who wanted to employ you with stupid
female trifles
following the usual upbringing
was the greatest impediment
to your engagement in sciences

RECTITUDE:
Learned women did more good
For humanity
Than men

Music

FEMALE CANTOR (whispering):

Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras

CHRISTINE: Dear lady, lady Reason, in accordance with what you have said,
woman is the noblest creature, but still, Cicero said that man must never serve

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any woman, and the man who does it anyway is degrading himself, because a
man must not serve a lower creature.

Now the Women cannot bear not to react.

WOMEN (whispering): I am Justice

I am force
I am Nature
Ha!

REASON: Listen to me for a moment!

Only those
both man and woman
who possess the best virtues
only those are sublime

RECTITUDE:
The virtues define
manners and value
not sex or dignity

REASON:
That is why I am astounded
with attitudes of some men
who do not want that their daughters
wives,
or sisters
get educated,
because that
is contrary to their customs
How can anyone even think
that someone who wants good education
is the worst of the worst? …

JUSTICE: Look
Those who accuse women because of jealousy
are worthless
because if they have met women of higher intelligence
and a more noble heart than theirs,
they could have felt only bitterness
and rage.

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RECTITUDE: Is there a single man,
who did more for humanity
than noble goddess Demeter
who fed barbarian tribes
taught them to grow plants,
cook foods that make body prettier
and complexion brighter.

REASON: Let us not forget

The year is 1400

Accent
Music

CHRISTINE: I believed that, having a mother, and having the experience of a

woman who provided for all her husband’s usual things, that this would be
enough to calm their foul tongues.

JUSTICE:
Are these things unimportant?

RECTITUDE:
Not at all, my lady.

REASON:
So it seems to me, that not Aristotle’s philosophy
so convenient and valued
and rightfully so
neither other philosophies
did give so many benefits to the humanity
as the inventions we owe to the spirit of these ladies

FEMALE CANTOR and CHOIR (singing):

Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras

RECTITUDE: Let us not forget

The year is 1400

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Music ends
Hubbub
Curtain is drawn

FEMALE CANTOR (singing):

Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras

7 Christine is in doubt, Christine is torn

FEMALE CANTOR: Let’s go, salsa!!!

Women shout out the names of famous women whom Christine mentions by
citing Boccaccio’s work: “On Famous Women” (“De mulieribus claris”)

RECTITUDE: … Sappho!

JUSTICE: … Semiramis!

REASON: … Joan of Arc!

RECTITUDE: … Medea!

JUSTICE: … Minerva!

REASON: … Ceres!

RECTITUDE: … Isis!

JUSTICE: … Queen of Sheba!

REASON: … Cassandra!

RECTITUDE: … Artemis!

JUSTICE: … Mary Magdalene!

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WOMEN: … Uhuuuu! … De mulieribus claris! … De mulieribus claris! …
De mulieribus claris! … De mulieribus claris! … I, I, I! … yeah! … yeah! …

Music suddenly becomes quieter

CHRISTINE: But, I would like to ask you whether you know a woman, who,
by the strength of her feelings and delicacy of understanding, has discovered
some new area of art or science. Because it is not a special skill to research and
teach the knowledge that was already discovered, as the one we discover on our
own.

Jazzy music

REASON:

Dear friend, I shall give you a multitude of examples:

to begin with: learned Nicostrate, who Italians call Carmenta,
had an incredible mind
and with God’s help
she was gifted with special knowledge
she was a great connoisseur of Greek literature
and she had such orator’s gift
that her contemporaries, poets
thought that she came
by the mercy of God Mercury himself
it was believed that her son
who at the time was considered to be exceptionally educated
was actually his descendent.
because of some disagreements
concerning land where Nicostrate lived
that lady took a boat
towards the land of Italy
and was accompanied
by her son
and a lot of people who followed her to the Tiber river
then she continued towards the hill
that she named Pallatine
after her father’s name
that hill
is linked to the origin of ancient Rome
at that place

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did the lady
her son
and her followers
build a fortification
when she discovered
that the people in that area
were savages
she wrote several laws
commanded their implementation
in accordance with law and reason.

Hubbub

REASON: Now I shall go on …

FEMALE CANTOR sings a brief phrase

REASON:
She instituted Latin script and language
in her honour many people and places were named
they are written in Latin
and all in honour of that lady
Carmenta
what more do you want, dear sister
can anyone say
anything more significant
about any man
or woman
and do not think
not for a moment
that she was the only woman in the world
after whom numerous branches of science were named

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras

CHRISTINE: Dear lady, I understand that women achieved many important

things and despite the fact that some evil women do evil things, the benefit of
that what the good, honest women do, especially those wise and educated in the
sciences, surpasses all evil … but …

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras … ck – ck … yeah! … ha!

…

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8 More arguments

Music

RECTITUDE:
And I shall tell you about another example
from ancient times
to convince you
that, even in a man’s mind
there is no unforeseeableness
and whimsicality
as they assert
they, still accuse women
for those same things
and I am asking you
do women have such inconsistent spirit
so many weaknesses
or malice
so much inconsistency
as emperor Claudius
who had his wife murdered
out of his madness
and cruelty,
and when the evening came
he wanted to know
why she did not come to bed
and then he invited his relatives
whose testes he had had cut
he invited them to his chambers
so he could play with them
Was he the only ruler
so full of frailties
Hm! … Ha? …
Emperor Tiberius
What about him
how much more successful he was
in that
All inconsistency
wavering
whimsicality
was there more of it
in him
than in any woman

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JUSTICE:
Because it is not in the law
or written anywhere else
that, if they are free to make mistakes
woman’s sin is greater than theirs
and truly
they claim such
competence
over women,
in speech and acts,
because
with all due respect
they want to be right
and they want both ends of the stick
About this you yourself
wrote in your
Letter to the God of Love

9 Solitude

Music

CHRISTINE:
Surprised by the dream
I am lying in my bed
I know that my works
provoke amazement
and respect
but not because of their value
but because of the unusual fact
that a woman can write.
From the year 1399
when I started writing,
up to this year, 1405
when I am still writing
I have finished
15 big works
without listing several smaller
that have all been
collected
into 70 big books
I am a person

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who wants to be famous
for her books
because my books
will forever keep
a memory of me

Music

FEMALE CANTOR (whispering): Ante mare et terras – sss …

Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras

CHRISTINE:
And then I closed the door
Or rather, my feelings
And reached for your beautiful books
And volumes
And songs
With the intention
To make up for oversights
I chose the only joy
Whatever joys others have
This is mine
Peace
Voluntary solitude
Withdrawn and low-profile life
Silence

FEMALE CANTOR (singing): Ante mare et terras

Ante mare et terras
Ante mare et terras

Music, voices, breathing

FEMALE CANTOR: There, this would be all.

Everything quiets down

THE END

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