The Book of the Duke of True Lovers [Paperback]

Christine de Pizan (Author), Thelma S. Fenster (Translator), Nadia Margolis (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1991

Publisher: Duffield Publication date: 1908 Subjects: Art / Techniques / Calligraphy Art / Design / Book Poetry / Continental European Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Whatever the theoretical reverence for women in the lore of courtly love, the reality was quite different. For the married lady, courtly love amounted to adultery; for the unmarried, shame, as marriage was never the goal of her suitor. Pizan ( The Book of the City of Ladies ) had already criticized the thinly veiled allegory of Jean de Meun's continuation of the Roman de la Rose (ca. 1275) when around 1403 the "Duke of True Lovers" asked her to fashion a romance based on his affair with a married cousin. Pizan obliged him--she was, after all, a working single mother with three children--but did not betray her principles. Nestled among the courtly commonplaces (a joust, the duke's consuming passion and its tortuous slaking) is a long didactic letter from his lady's old duenna, warning her about the perils of her course. The narrative poetry that tells the story has been ably translated by Fenster into accessible prose, which serves to emphasize Margolis's verse translations of the ballades, rondeaux and virelais. The introduction provides a useful literary setting but only that: readers who want to know more, indeed anything, about the patron will be disappointed.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

De Pizan, married at 15, widowed at 23 in 1390, and the first woman of letters to live by her pen, here recounts a tale of love with all the stock devices of courtly romance. It is not until the lady receives a letter from her former governess warning her of the lost honor ensuing from her clandestine affair with the duke that it is evident that de Pizan is anti-courtly with a feminist point of view. The couple's dilemma is never resolved, and the lyric poems following the duke's tale illustrate the couple's suffering and suggest de Pizan's disapproval of adulterous relationships. Fenster and Margolis successfully eliminate the English archaisms of the Alice Kemp-Welch 1906 edition (reprinted in 1966) which omits the lyric poems, and present a vivid, suspenseful tale, entertaining for all ages.
- Bob Ivey, Memphis State Univ., Tenn.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Persea Books (August 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892551666
• ISBN-13: 978-0892551668
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,892,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christine De Pizan, the Dutchess of True Lovers!, June 26, 2000

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[e-mail] (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of the Duke of True Lovers (Paperback)

The first Medieval literature I read was The Art of Courtly Love. The second book was Christine's The Book of the Duke of True Lovers. She subverts all the tenets given for courtly love to show its faults. She is requested to write the story of the Duke and she uses this opportunity to warn women and let them know the are better things to do than become involved in courtly love. Not a major milestone today, but for a period in time when few people were educated (and unheard of for women) Christine brilliantly uses her postion to her advantage!