The anonymity of the performance permitted them to engage in behavior that might otherwise be considered inappropriate. However, the custom of masking also gave concrete form to Castiglione's metaphor of the courtier as one who was continually playing a role. As Federico states in Book II of the Courtier,
But if a Courtier who is accustomed to handling affairs of importance should happen to be in private with his lord, he must become another person [lit., put on another mask], and lay aside grave matters for another time and place, and engage in conversation that will be amusing and pleasant to his lord, so as not to prevent him from gaining such relaxation.
In this situation, the courtier is not only, once again, assuming another role, but he is representing, in microcosm, the function of the larger ceremonials. While designed to project a "mask" of power, large pageants, like the intimate, but relaxed interlude between the courtier and his lord were designed to divert as much as to display. Thus, in participating in entertainments, the courtier was fulfilling a duel role - assisting his master in the exercise of power by helping him to visually display that power, while also helping to relax from the cares of that power. Through graceful relaxation, both master and courtier could be refreshed, and return again to the stage of state renewed and reinvigorated. For in public, even when engaged in sport or play, the courtier is careful to maintain his art. Everything, even the grand public spectacles of the courtiers amusing themselves is done with an eye toward correct performance and artistic flare. As Federico says in Book II,
Whereas, if he happens to engage in arms in some public show -- such as jousts, tourneys, stick-throwing, or any other bodily exercise -- mindful of the place where he is and in whose presence, he will strive to be as elegant and handsome in the exercise of arms as he is adroit, and to feed his spectators' eyes with all those things that he thinks may give him added grace....
As art blends seamlessly with physical skill and creative talent, so too does the public merge with the private. The entertainments of the court are the awesome spectacles of the populace. They convince subjects and visitors alike of the power, wealth, and magnanimity of the prince and his court.
In short, Niccolo Machiavelli and Baldesar Castiglione are both concerned with the exercise of power and influence at court. The court was the center of government and society in Renaissance Italy, much as certain social groups lead either politics or culture today. Machiavelli emphasized primarily the skills needed for the actual exercise and maintenance of power by the prince - the ruler. He made politics into something like a true science, emphasizing rational means of investigation, and undertaking logical courses of action. Good government would lead to loyalty on the part of the people, and to prosperity in the state. Yet, Machiavelli also gave...
Prince and the Courtier The issue of courtly love, in renaissance drama is one utterly surrounded by high emotion, intrigue and secrecy. So much so that the effects of courtly liaisons can literally and figuratively end with physical death caused by emotional responses to its loss or by the vengeance of those who might feel wronged or betrayed by the lovers. Honor, independence, family, and virtue are dramatically intense issues associated
Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper Calais, France Anno Domini 1544, October the First My dear Hugh, It is with a heavy heart that I take up quill and inkpot to pen this sad missive, informing thee of the death of Miles thy brother during that recent battle between his majesty our most puissant sovereign King Henry the Eighth and his sworn enemy, that perifidious frog the Dauphin of France, which did of late
These individuals promoted the belief that it was in people's best interest to concentrate on putting across thinking that reflected positively on the world and that moral thinking played an essential role in changing the way that the social order functioned. Humanist writers wanted people to learn to enjoy life's pleasures without focusing on material values. Even with the fact that Castiglione partly agree to Pico by stating that reason
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She argues that the evasiveness and incongruites in the narrative exist since Spenser is facing issues that are not easily answered. From the start, Britomart represents an authority figure, a power not found in any other knight in the Faerie Queene. Spenser says that Britomart literally cannot be beaten, since she carries a powerful magic spear, or phallic symbol (depending on the interpretation) that refers back to the theme of
An army's best use is not in battle against waves of invaders, but as a deterrent against invasion by its value to strike fear into the heart of a potential enemy. With its ranks swollen by Christians, the army is larger than ever and gives foreign princes and peoples the strongest disincentive to attack Rome or what shelters beneath the Roman eagle's wings. Thus, even though Christians can be counted
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