Hmmm...
Obviously since I have presented on Castiglione and his The Book of the Courtier, I thought I was able to give a lot of valid points in class (hopefully, right, at least I hope it was somewhat coherent). Even though, good lord, I am freaking out because I went way over the time limit. I promise it was not intentional! Believe me, I hate giving presentations and I am surprised I was able to talk for that long. Castiglione sure does have a lot to say about what exactly constitutes the perfect gentleman! One question, though: when one man suggests something and another man shoots it down, does that mean that, by default, Castiglione himself also hates that characteristic that he had his character shoot down? I do not know. Because remember, he is a courtier himself and he is constantly reflected in his work.
I think I went over enough themes in class as far as both the life of Castiglione and some humanism/Renaissance main points (I have posted my PowerPoint on the class wiki), so now I'd like to have some fun.
-cue Also Sprach Zarathustra-
First, there was chivalry.
Then, there was a courtier.
Now, there is a perfect gentleman!*
Castiglione can have his requirements for the ideal man? Well, here are MY thoughts for MY perfect man! [Note: Only some of my thoughts are included. I am an incredibly intricate woman and my brain is a swirling with complexities; so this is what I can think of for now. Teehee! Also, I suppose not all of these have to apply to simply dateable men, but rather any sort of man, friend, whatever. Get your mind out of the gutter.]
- Respect. Enough said.
- Humor. Also enough said.
- Courtesy. Kind of like respect, but a little different.
- Supportive. Duh!
- Sensitive. But not wimpy.
- Goal-oriented.
- Responsible. (I'm almost 21... you'd think this shouldn't be a problem. WRONG.)
- Fun. Entertain me!
- Honest. Don't lie to me. I will find out. And I will hunt you down.
See something I missed, ladies? Comment your little hearts out and add to this list!
These are the major ones I can think of for now.
* I tried so very hard to think of something clever that could be alliterative and match the c-sound at the beginning of both chivalry and courtier but alas, the only thing that even remotely made sense was companion. But that wasn't exactly the right word I was looking for... I also briefly entertained the idea of "classic" or "classical" companion, or something, but that didn't really make as much sense as I had hoped. Sad.
