Castiglione's Accomplishments

The Renaissance was a huge time for growth. Humanism, the praising of the intelligence and beauty of a person, spread very widely in this time and not only did it improve how people thought about themselves, but it improved how people thought about others. (Background Essay) The Renaissance changed the concept of what it meant to be human as seen in art, literature and science.

There were certain aspects of learning that he emphasized more than the others. Not only did he focus on major works that the people should know but also on “…writing in verse and prose…” (3) Castiglione had the ideal image in his mind of exactly what people needed to be and the way they should act. When he said this, it was greatly respected because of his writing of his well-known conduct book. However, people began to veer away from this ideal of a needed education; it became a major change for society. Later on, in the Letter to the Parlement of Dijon concerning the reopening of a French Jesuit school, it was explicitly said that all men do not need an education. Some men need to do work that is not based off of education; they need to do the basics that make society properly function. “The study of literature is appropriate only to a small minority of men.” This statement explicitly says that an education is not for everyone, boldly going against Castiglione. (11) This was a bold statement to make, because it showed a drastic change in people’s point of view of a proper man. Along with saying not all people needed to be educated, there was also the vast criticism of the school system and the way it was teaching. The concepts being learned in school needed to be more readily applied into real life situations, and this did not seem to be the true goal. (8)

Castiglione approached manners in a much different way. Castiglione believed in someone who was strong and perfect. He should be able to skillful in handling weapons and horses, for the art of war. "And therefore will I have him to be of good

The view of the nature of man had changed significantly, in the Renaissance, since the time of the Middle Ages. Each man was now unique and completely different from his neighbor. Every man’s personality and personas were special to the individual. Men were composed of different amounts and types of talents. Some were great at science, some art, or others engineering. Man’s view on how they wanted to live their lives was also completely opposite then their fellow man. Overall, the nature of man became that of being their own human being and not be exactly the same as the person next

The Courtier, originally written as a “courtesy book”, can now be considered to provide significant insight into the norms and practices associated with courtship and gender during the Renaissance era. The book’s third volume is a particularly insightful window into 16th century romantic ideals. Throughout Book Three, Baldassare Castiglione builds an elaborate perspective on what makes the perfect court lady, what sexual and social behavior is acceptable, and how an ideal couple (both courtier and court lady) should function.

“The wretchedness of an empty brain is perhaps as hard to bear as an empty purse, and a heart without hope is as cheerless as a fireless grate” (Cobbe 80). Women are expected to be a teacher for their children and educate them

Whether it is the past or the present, there have always been gender roles in society. In most homes, it is the woman’s responsibility to take care of the house. This includes cleaning, meal preparations, raising and taking care of the children as well as the husband. Compared to the men who take care of the more physical activities, such as yard work. It was known throughout many years that it was a woman’s responsibility to stay in the house while the man would go out and look for work to provide money for his family. Although the intensity of gender roles has changed, it still exists.

Should China revalue the yuan against the dollar? If so, what impact may this have on (1) US balance of payments, (2) Chinese balance of payments, (3) relative competitiveness of Mexico and Thailand, (4) firms such as Wal-Mart, and (5) US and Chinese retail consumers?

According to Paul Grendler, the conservative, clerical pedagogical theorist Silvio Antoniano (1540-1603) reflected on women’s educational status in Renaissance Italy in one of his written works, claiming that “…a girl (should not) learn ‘pleading and writing poetry’; the vain sex must not reach too high…A girl should attend to sewing, cooking, and other female activities, leaving to men what was theirs”. Apparently, this was the common-held view concerning women’s education during that time. Although women were actually encouraged to literacy, their subservient social role as wives and mothers could not allow them to learn as much as men did (Grendler, 1989).

The second area that saw the littlest change for women in the Renaissance was the expectations that came with their social status. Overall women were deemed to be a lower class in terms of gender, and men often treated them with less respect as a result. Within social classes, stereotypical beliefs regarding women and their role were held. Lower class women were expected to be housewives and take care of everything to do with the house. The expectation of working-class women, however, was slightly different. They were expected to work for their husbands and help them run their business, although they couldn’t partake in any of the work by themselves or outside of the house. However, this different expectation wasn’t necessarily new and was upheld from previous times, supporting this idea of women not receiving a Renaissance in the area of social class. Some women in the elite were able to become slightly more independent from their husbands and gain more responsibility, but the vast majority of women in the Renaissance continued to be used for the sole benefits of the men; as providers of a dowry, homemakers

Don Quixote is a character who read so many books on chivalry, he 'was so absorbed in these books that his nights were spent reading from dusk till dawn…until the lack of sleep and the excess of reading withered his brain, and he went mad'(Cervantes p.26). 'considering it desirable and necessary, both for the increase of his honour and for the common good [he becomes] a knight errant'

Women and men have had certain roles in society that were understood amongst them to be specified for their particular gender. Males were known to have the leading role as head of the house hold and the bread winner while the woman’s duty was to stay at home and take care of the house and children. While many people years ago deemed this way of life and practice to be the right and ethical thing to do, times have changed and so this kind of treatment towards a woman’s equality must be questioned. Even though times have changed, this mindset of a woman’s ability to be as good as a man has not completely gone away. In today’s society a woman contributes to the economy and her family as equally as that of a man. Therefore, women should share equal rights and opportunities as their gender counterparts.

Women in Renaissance Italy faced rigid societal standards to which they were supposed to conform. They lived public lives, directed almost exclusively by other people in regards to significant decisions. However, this does not mean that a rise above the oppressive nature of the Renaissance was impossible. Several exceptional women were able to challenge their given positions in a society through their education, practices, seclusion, beauty, and roles. In an examination of several positions, through the Exhortations to Women and to Others If They Please by Lucrezia Marinella and the letters of Laura Cereta, a Renaissance feminist, women can be seen as accepting of their position in society or rebelling against it. Their lives and prescriptive writings show how one can either follow the role given to them or exceed beyond it and become an exceptional woman.

Castiglione's The Courtier presents a set of female and male indications for being ideal or well-rounded persons, spread across four books of what was to become a Renaissance-specific manual for achieving the human etiquette ideal. A parallel is to be traced between these precepts that were drawn five centuries ago, and the current situation.

Throughout history, women have been seen in many different lights. From a woman’s perspective she is strong, smart, helpful and equal to men. In the eyes of men, she is seen as the weaker being, the housewife, and the caretaker. By looking at the following pieces of writing, one can see that through the centuries, women have struggled to break out of the mold that man had put her in and make themselves known in society as important.