Juvenal and Christine D Pisan: Women in Society

Juvenal and Christine de Pisan: Women In Society

Abstract

In this paper I am going to discuss the different styles of writing and the poets’ views on women and society, between Roman satirist Decimus Junius Juvenalis, referred to throughout as Juvenal, and the pioneering female writer, Christine de Pisan. Juvenal had a rather bitter outlook on life and was very opinionated in his views. It is obvious that these influenced his writings throughout his life. The role of Roman women in society at that time was mainly that of a wife and child bearer. Most were married at a very young age and were expected to have many children. Christine de Pisan was well educated and circumstances of life forced her into the role of sole supporter of her family. She chose writing as a way to earn her living during a time when writing was a male dominated profession. In contrast to Juvenal, Pisan wrote in support of women and their role in society and against the antifeminists who condemned women while writers and the churches spread unflattering opinions about women. Culture during the middle ages was that of a very male dominated society and de Pisan’s achievements were extremely unusual for a woman.

Juvenal was a Roman Satirist born in the Provinces. He served as a magistrate under the Roman emperor Domitian whom he irritated to the point of being exiled. Upon returning to Rome he lived in poverty and his writing exemplifies his views on the corruption of society and the greed of the aristocrats. In Juvenal’s first satire he tells the reasons that he wrote and in what style. He claims that he turned to writing “out of fierce outrage at the corruption and decadence of his day.” (Cunningham & Reich, 2010, Vol. II, p. 342).

According to Reverend M. Madan (n.d.):

An attentive reader of Juvenal’s works would see that he was drawing a portrait of the

Roman people in his time. He portrayed them as a people sunk in sloth, luxury, and...