To Run and Leap with Peasants: Idealism and Stereotype Formation in The Book of the Courtier

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6 word format

document in English

literature

school essay

published 12/10/2007

review : Completed

level : Advanced

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Summary

In the sixteenth century, the ideal was inseparable from the ruling class: it was a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, the aristocracy establishing itself as the ideal while simultaneously defining the ideal. The members of the nobility lived in tightly-monitored roles. Idealism was not about the individual but about the preservation of the entire image, for this image of power and money subordinated the lower classes. A role is an expectation, a state of identity foreclosure, and individuality is lost in the midst of societal expectation. These lords and ladies, courtiers and princes, idolized for their fortune and influence, were secretly stripped of any freedom, of any choice, for the sake of the whole. It would be decades before the very essence of humanity, free will, would be remembered in both literature and society. Baldesar Castiglione realizes the necessity of roles in European life during this period.

It can be argued that the role of the courtier is a choice, that an individual born to a noble family is bound to that family by chains or force.
Free will could still exist within the confines of expectation, exercised above and beyond the duties of the courtier
The portrayal of the upper class as slaves to their own idealism is an image in direct contrast to that often associated with the aristocracy.
The first and most severe restriction placed on the courtier is class.
The courtier's role is that of a direct extension of his lord, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on his reputation as it is also the reputation of the prince.
These marriages, almost always arranged or influenced, sometimes even at the moment of conception, allow no room for true love.
The affair is required of the courtier, for the foremost rule in matters of courtly love is that 'marriage is no real excuse for not loving?
Above all else the courtier must retain his honor and reputation as a symbol of the idealism under which he suffers.
From birth the courtier is raised as a member of the ruling class, and through life his courtiership is created