How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[She] had so lofty a heart that she did not deign to marry, nor did she desire that any man be at her side. (1.12.1)
Some women are so chaste and virtuous that they don't want to get married to any man. Here, Christine seems to celebrate women's independence. But at the end of the book, she totally goes back on this and tells women that independence isn't a good thing.
Quote #2
This maiden despised all physical love and refused to marry for a long time. (1.20.1)
It's clear that Christine de Pizan has some admiration for unmarried women. This might have something to do with the fact that Christine became a widow when she was fairly young and never got remarried.
Quote #3
For this reason, in order to escape and avoid such inconveniences, many authorities have advised wise men not to marry, affirming that no women—or very few—are loyal to their mates. (2.13.1)
Many men in Christine's time criticized marriage in general because they thought women weren't capable of being loyal to one man for their entire lives. These dudes were probably just projecting, though, because chances are that men were way more unfaithful than women during this time.
Quote #4
How many women are there actually, dear friend—and you yourself know—who because of their husbands' harshness spend their weary lives in the bond of marriage in greater suffering than if they were slaves among the Saracens? (2.13.1)
Men like to criticize marriage, but the truth is that marriage was probably harder on women in de Pizan's time than it was on men. After all, if a woman got stuck with an abusive husband, there was usually not much she could do about it.
Quote #5
But let me hasten to assure you that not all marriages are conducted with such spite, for there are those who live together in great peacefulness, love, and loyalty, because the partners are virtuous, considerate, and reasonable. (2.13.1)
For Christine de Pizan, marriage is capable of being a beautiful thing if both partners involved are good people. Marriage doesn't guarantee loyalty from someone who's not loyal. But it also doesn't guarantee that everything's going to be bad, either.
Quote #6
How many good women there are who are so conscientious in caring for their husbands, healthy or sick, with a loyal love as though their husbands were gods! (2.13.2)
Christine de Pizan is quick to point out that most women of her generation treat their husbands like gods, even though these husbands might not deserve this kind of respect and admiration. So much for saying that marriage favors women more than men.
Quote #7
Thus she demonstrated well the great love which she had for her husband, as Boccaccio himself noted, approving the marriage bond which others want to attack. (2.15.1)
Even the great Italian poet Boccaccio has said that marriage is a great thing and that wives are capable of great love for their husbands. And if some two-bit dude wants to contradict a great poet like Boccaccio, he can't expect many people to listen to him.
Quote #8
Everyone should be extremely pleased that, in addition to their other virtues, such great love could reside in a woman's heart in the bond of marriage. (2.19.1)
For de Pizan, everyone should be happy when they find out that a marriage has worked out well. But it almost seems like people from her time want marriages to fail, just so they can have more evidence to support their cynical view of the world.
Quote #9
However, he did not know precisely how he could find wives for himself and his companions, for the Sabine kings and princes and countrymen did not want to give them their daughters in marriage because the Romans seemed extremely unstable to the Sabine. (2.33.1)
In this story, de Pizan talks about how a certain group of dudes didn't want their daughters to marry another group of dudes. Note how the people who have no say in this decision are the actual women getting married.
Quote #10
I can give you examples of married women—about whom I could tell you much more—whose anguish at having been raped was unbearable. (2.46.1)
When she feels as though she hasn't made her point strongly enough, Christine de Pizan talks about how some women killed themselves after being raped because they felt like they'd let their husbands down.