The structure of the work
The Cortegiano presents itself as a series of discussions that are imagined to have taken place at the court of Urbino, over four evenings, among the gentlemen and ladies congregating in the court of Elisabetta Gonzaga. Thus, the work belongs to the category of dialogues, and certain indications, intentionally disseminated in the text, allow us to determine precisely the fictitious chronology: the conversations, recalled by the author, are supposed to have taken place at the beginning of March 1507, when Baldassarre was in England, on a mission to Henry VII. Castiglione, with a light but significant manipulation of the historical facts, pretends to transcribe what of those conversations had been reported to him, following the model of the dialogues of Cicero.
The theme of the debate is the figure of the perfect courtier: his way of being, the forms and behaviours that certify his dignity, at an ethical and psychological level, and also on the plane of the variegated phenomena associated with the life style. The choice of the dialogue form ensures, however, that the composition has a smiling and ironic flow, and the interjections, at time distracting, of the various characters lightens the rigour of the arguments, which never exceed in the direction of abstract speculation. Castiglione is concerned, by means of fictitious conversations, that every assumption be transmitted with incisive and lively interventions, avoiding dry and boring arguments.
Each of the four books into which the work is divided contains the discussion of a specific problem. The first book is dominated by the intent to define the essence of a gentleman and the languages in which he can express himself; the second book, continuing from the first, analyses the complex and highly variable field of interpersonal relationships, recommending caution and prudence, and a large interlude is dedicated to the discussion of comedy; the third book discusses the ideal profile of a lady of the palace, in her intimacy and in her communication with others; the last book, the crowning glory of the text, touches on the other two spheres of court life: politics, as in the relationship between the courtier and the prince, and love, with a dissertation of platonic stamp aimed at indicating the most noble way of leading one’s sentimental life.
