Book of the Courtier Essay

â€Å"Whatever character an individual has determines how successful the community he belongs to will be†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ these lines are indeed true with what the â€Å"Book of the Courtier† suggests. Authored by an Italian soldier, and a statesman attached to the court of the duke of Milan and later in the service of Duke Urbino, Baldassare Castiglione, the entire book dwells in a central theme which includes having graceful behavior, especially that of the impression of effortlessness or referred to by the book as â€Å"sprezzatura. † This series of four books deals so much on how an individual should train himself in discipline so as to be able to reach the best person he could in a way that he could contribute so much to his own community. In the case of this book, Castiliogne puts it in the personification of a perfect courtier. On the third book though, the story evolves on how a court lady should carry herself and thus be able to serve her master in a way that they will never have any point of despising her service. Being clever is quite a clear attitude pointed in this part of the book. In addition to this, the wide differences between male and female genders is shown with emphasis. One part of these series of stories talks about the individuality of each men as I may quote: â€Å"I don’t want to be like the man who stripped down to his shirt and then jumped a shorter distance than he had in his greatcoat. So as far as I am concerned it is very fortunate that the hour is late, because as there is little time I shall have to say far less, and not having given the matter any thought, I will be excusable and allowed to say without being censured all the things that come to my mind. And now in order not to have to carry the burden any longer, let me start by saying that to recognize true perfection in anything is so difficult as to be scarcely possible; and this because of the opinions vary. Thus there are many who like to hear someone talking a great deal and who will call him an agreeable companion. Some will prefer reticence; others an active and restless man; others one who always acts with calmness and deliberation; and so everyone praises or condemns according to his own opinion, always Importance Placed on Individual or Society Page #2 camouflaging a vice under the name of a corresponding virtue; or a virtue under the name of a corresponding vice. † This lines shows how individual opinions affect how one person chooses to conduct himself in front of the other people in his community. Sometimes held in hindrance to what he really likes to do, a person chooses to succumb to what his society considers to be right and acceptable. Yet some choose to stick to what they believe in and dares to be different in some ways thus facing the judgment of his community men regarding his rather different being. Indeed, however a man chooses to deal with his own life defending his own beliefs as such, it will strongly influence his society’s views on things. A real â€Å"perfect courtier† is referred to as someone who can direct his own way. Someone who would not allow his principles be cracked by people who aims to put his â€Å"service to his master† into a lower state of excellence. A real noble man is the one who can decide for himself. From the smallest detail of how he should dress to the most complicated issue of how he should deal with his life. He that continuously struggles for his goals toward aspiring people. Someone who is able to measure his accomplishments with those of other people is the one considered to be truly successful. Everything must occur in such a reasonable way and with purpose. It is very important for each and every one of us to continue on pursuing our own goals to attain self excellence. As Sydney Bremer says in his book Successful Achievements: â€Å"In the assurance of strength, there is strength, and they are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their powers. Men often conquer difficulties because they think they can. Their confidence in themselves inspires confidence in others†. This is indeed true specially in connection with the theme of the book of Castiglione. It is thus true that what a person does as a separate part of his community is directly linked to other people living with him. Man, as the very basic part of a certain society determines both the norms and the idealism a community considers to be true and acceptable. On the other hand, aiming for the best, as suggested by the ideas of Castiglione is concerned with how we embed ourselves with the positive traits that lead to self excellence and also eliminating negative characters which may Importance Placed on Individual or Society Page #3 hinder us from doing what we are supposed to reach as our aims in life. One of which is â€Å"sprezzatura† which was translated in the modern English as â€Å"recklessness†. It came from an Italian root-word â€Å"sprezza† meaning contempt, disdain, or scorn. Having such attitudes wouldn’t make any young courtier a successful one at that. On the contrary, it will just lead him to failure and distress. His goals of giving his best service will surely be a waste if he continues to cultivate this character in his everyday dealings. This is so much true even to an individual who strives to be the best in what he does. As a whole, as we could closely see, the â€Å"Book of the Courtier† shows so much emphasis on the kind of living of an individual person. From the positive traits he must posses to the negative attitudes he must omit from his system so as to be able to meet the goal of self excellence. Women also were given emphasis to have certain independence from the authority of men in some ways. Giving them the free will, freedom of speech and freedom in deciding for what they want with their lives. Yes, as this book has been set at a long time past in England, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it doesn’t have any practical advise to the modern times we are presently living in today. Apparently, the contents of this book has a lot of advise enclosed for these generation which we are living in. As to what we could actually observe, many young people today lack the enthusiasm of actually establishing their own purpose in life. Sadly, only a few of the youth today endeavor to influence the community they are living in with positive contributions to the moral, spiritual, and even secular aspects of life in the society. Only a fewer percent of today’s population really strive for the aim of having self-excellence. Yes, sometimes, its not bad to be a bit perfectionist with ourselves. Knowing our limits of course, perfectionism usually lead us to self-excellence. As one saying implies : â€Å"Make perfection your aim and be satisfied with nothing less†. Yes, we must always remember to ask ourselves of what we ought to do as an individual, what we could improve on ourselves and thus be able to make a difference on the community we are living in. Not to be praised or to be renowned as a noble man, but to reach the reality of self-excellence. Sources: Castigliogne, Baldesar. The Book of The Courtier. Penguin Classics. 1967.