Reading the description of what a woman in court should be made my skin crawl! I don't care very much for the ideal of a courtier but the lady was far worse. Almost her entire merit and virtue lies in her ability to be pleasing to others. Her virtues and goals are confined to her appearance and the way she makes other people feel. She must be charming, witty ( though not witty enough to cause offense of course), AND OF COURSE BEAUTIFUL!
She is required to have brains and knowledge but only so long as it lends itself to pleasing conversation. She is forbidden to ever use her intellect to create anything that would cause a stir or challenge another member of the party, or for that matter contain substance. The most infuriating part is that they spend pages and pages talking about how she should focus on her appearance and the image which she portrays but only about two sentences on how important it is for her to actually possess virtue.
She is suppose to appear chaste rather than be chaste, appear intelligent rather than be intelligent, and appear like she loves you company rather being a true friend. How is this desirable? How can any wise man or woman fail to recognize that one must focus on substance and truth rather than appearance and act to attain true happiness?
FAIL CASTIGLOINE- I cast you into the Renaissance trash can
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