ly conduct.The women must also “…Behave towards her lord, be he old or young, in all the ways that good faith and true love command” (62). This means that women must obey everything the men say and not voice their opinion even if they disagree with the men’s comments. Women must also show their love by being attentive to things that would affect their husbands both physically and mentally. Renaissance women were told to say whatever was needed to keep the men in their lives happy. If one of the women’s husband dies, she was expected to pray for him and his soul for an extended amount of time.In return, according to Christine de Pisan, men treated their women very well. This quote expresses the men’s feelings: “She was for this reason so loved and honoured by her lord that he denied her nothing that she desired” (63). Men were grateful to have such wonderful women to serve them and to comply with their every command. They realized how blessed they were to have women who would obey them, love them, respect them, help them in their time of need, and oversee their land when they were called away for war. The men’s way of returning the women’s devotion was to supply the women with anything they needed. In addition to serving their husbands and the other men of the society, the Renaissance women were expected to love and serve God by leading either a contemplative life or an active life. “Your duty to be good and devout towards God goes without saying” (145-146). The contemplative life required that the women focus entirely on serving God. They constantly thought of God, eventually forgetting everyone else such as their father, mother, children, and themselves. On the other hand, the active life contributed more to the society as a whole. The women that followed the active life went to the hospitals to visit the sick and poor, always attempted to do good, ...
