The text opens with Christine de Pizan finding a book written by a man named Mathéolus, talking about why all women were bad. Pizan is puzzled to see that so many people believe in those lies and is curious to find about their motive. As she studies even more books, she finds that many more male writers have the same ideas about women.
Christine gets discouraged and begins to cry, cursing the fact that she was born a woman. As Christine sits and cries, three women appear in the room. Christine looks at them puzzled, not knowing how they entered the room since the doors and the windows were shut.
One of the women tells Christine not to be afraid and not to believe everything said in the ancient texts. Then, one of the women gives her a mirror, claiming that she was not able to see herself clearly until now because she was affected by how men see her. The woman also tells Christine that it is her destiny to build a city where all women can come and live in peace, without needing any men around them. The woman also tells Christine that the city has to be named the City of Ladies and has to be just like the Amazon cities from the Greek mythology.
The first lady introduces herself as Lady Reason and she is followed by another woman named Lady Rectitude who reminds Christine that knowing what is good is not enough and that she must act immediately to do what is good. Lady Rectitude gives Christine a ruler that is supposed to help her distinguish right from wrong and also to build the new city.
The last lady introduces herself as Lady Justice and she holds in her hand a cup in which everything a person deserves is contained. The lady also promises her that she will help Christine find worthy women to populate the new city.
After the three ladies are done speaking, Christine feels lighter than she did before and agrees to go with the ladies to visit the site where the city will be built. There, Christine asks the ladies why there is such a deep hatred between men and women and the ladies tell Christine that men generalized everything and tried to fit every woman into the same mold. Women were not allowed to speak for themselves so men were free to say whatever they wanted about the women in their lives.
Christine asks Lady Reason why the ancient poet Ovid wrote such hateful things about women and the lady tells Christine that Ovid was known for being promiscuous and for sleeping with as many women as he could. Because of this, he is not a source to be trusted. They conclude that often, it was not the women who were the problems but the men. Lady Reason gives as a positive example the Virgin Mary, a good woman who gave birth to the man who sacrificed himself to save the world.
The women also argue that women are not as sexually driven as men make them out to be and drink less than men because they have self-restraint. Christine asks the ladies why women are not allowed to be judges or lawyers and the ladies tell her that God created women different from men and so it is only natural that they have different roles in society. That does not, however, give one group the right to rule over the other as all humans are equal in front of God.
The ladies argue that women are just as capable of being rulers as men are and they give as examples the Empress Nicaula and the Queen Fredegund of France. Women’s ability to rule can also be seen from their abilities to run and control their own households.
Women are also just as courageous as men and the Queen Semiramis is given as an example, along with the Amazonian queen Thamiris and other Amazonian queens who came after her. Queen Artemisia is mentioned by Lady Reason as another positive example. Artemisia was a woman who, after her husband’s death, took over the country that he ruled and protected it from attackers. She also helped the Spartans defeat the Persian army and encouraged them to continue fighting.
Another woman mentioned is Camilla who decided to remain a virgin her whole life and who was known for being a skilled hunter. Queen Berenice is also mentioned because she protected her kingdom from outside forces.
When Lady Reason finishes telling Christine about all the women who were skilled rulers, Christine finishes the foundation for the city. Then, Christine asks the Lady to tell her about women who were known because of their intelligence and who received a good education. The Lady mentions a Roman woman named Proba, the poet Sappho, Maiden Manto who could predict the future, Medea, and Queen Circe.
They also talk about women who discovered new fields of knowledge, who invented the modern way of writing and who wrote laws that defined modern civilization. Minerva, a woman who lived in ancient Rome, is told to have invented some musical instruments and a new way of making clothes. Queen Ceres is credited with discovering agriculture and inventing agricultural tools. Christine reaches the conclusion that life as we know it would have been impossible without the things discovered and invented by women. In fact, Lady Reason tells Christine that women probably did more good for the society through the things they invented than men did.
Various women are also credited with inventing sewing, dying clothes, and other activities that are linked with cloth-making. Women are also associated with literature and with paintings but while education is important, Lady Reason tells Christine that for some women, it is better to remain uneducated.
The first book ends with the story of Lavinia, who saved her son and who later became the grandmother of the founders of Rome. At the end of the first book, Christine finishes building the walls of the city and the other two Ladies take their turn talking with her.
Christine finishes building the city and she goes together with the Ladies to look for good women to inhabit the city. The Ladies return with numerous women both from the past and the present. Then, Christine points out that women are extremely loyal to their husbands and Lady Rectitude mentions the examples of various women who were willing to die for their husbands. They also highlight the idea that often, women are attracted to a man’s intelligence and not by his body.
Lady Rectitude also refuses to believe that all women like to gossip and that they do not know how to keep a secret. Lady Rectitude tells Christine that women should be educated and that it is a shame that the mothers are the ones who oppose their daughter’s education and not the fathers. The women also discuss the erroneous notion that women are only interested in sex and that every women secretly wants to be ravished.
Christine and Lady Rectitude then talk about the way women like to dress themselves and put on makeup. For them, this is not a sign of uncontrolled vanity but only a desire to look nice. Lady Justice offers some examples of her own of women who were loved and appreciated by God. Among the women mentioned by her are the Virgin Mary, Europhrysina, Saint Macra, and other women who remained in history as saints. Christine finishes building the city at last and she finishes her book by giving the women inside the city a few words of advice on how to behave and how to live their life in an honorable way.
