Beauty And Balance In Renaissance Literature

The Renaissance was a period of revolutionary change, therefore literature, art, and architecture all flourished. When the medieval era shifted into early modernity, this new era adopted new political and social reforms, and these new ideals ran through Renaissance writings. There are notable examples that affected this transition to modernity such as Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier and Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince. These pieces of revolutionary writings are prominently distinct and separate from the former values and social relations of the medieval era; they establish a new understanding of the political and social atmospheres of the modern world. They are comparable in the way that information is distributed but severely …show more content…
The emergence of humanism was a self-aware time in which individuals started realizing the true beauty and greatness of humans. This metaphor of human beauty associated with goodness compared to a blossoming tree and the fruit that grows from it is a serene image that Castiglione presents. In contrast to this, although Machiavelli’s writings are humanistic, he displays what is deemed as wounded idealism and his humanistic views are different from normal humanism of the time. His wounded idealism and his conclusion that the human race bears flaws are very reflective of mannerism. His pessimism is especially present in his view of humanity and man, saying, “They are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours” (Machiavelli 54). Mannerists have a negative image of human nature, and there is this rejection of idealism and the looking through the lens of realism. Machiavelli does not see the good aspects about man and he believes that they are merely self-interested creatures. Along with his frustration of the lack of unification of Italy, there is a large presence of political realism and Machiavelli is breaking from the tradition of his time. Both Castiglione and Machiavelli reject the medieval tradition, and they do not …show more content…
Castiglione presents his ideals through theoretical means; meanwhile, Machiavelli does the same through empirical means. In Castiglione’s work, though he spent much of his time at court, the described courtier is not based on real life and his descriptions are simply ideals that he formed through his studies in classical and medieval literature (Matthews & Platt 318). Castiglione’s ideal type is theoretical, and he includes all criteria that make up the perfect courtier. But, this is merely a constructed, abstract and hypothetical concept. The ideal type can be turned to and it can be compared to other courtiers, but Castiglione’s proposed courtier is the greatest that one could be. He established this based on the rising norms of behaviour in court life that came with the high Renaissance. At the beginning of book one, it is said, “let us now begin to discuss the subject we have chosen and, if it is possible, create a courtier so perfect that the prince who is worthy of his service, even though his dominion is small, can count himself a truly great ruler” (Castiglione 40). The use of the word “create” is showing how theoretical this book truly is. The perfect courtier is created and constructed throughout the dialogue. There is a strong philosophical presence in this piece such as from the ancient writings of Plato, but are still derived from a philosophy and