Synopsis
An allegorical defense of women, building a symbolic city of virtuous women to refute misogynist slanders and assert their worth.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Public domainWomen's supposed inferiority reflects men's biased authority, not nature; history is full of women of wisdom, virtue, and courage.
It challenges inherited misogyny by marshaling evidence of female excellence against the prejudice of male writers.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
Reading note
Read it as a medieval allegory in dialogue form, attentive to its rhetorical strategy of accumulating examples.
Best paired with
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman