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Teachers' Resource Web Study Questions on Castiglione / Hoby The Book of the Courtier 1. Briefly compare/contrast this dialogue to a standard Socratic dialogue in terms of setting, atmosphere, and basic manner of argumentation. To help you focus: What is the setting for Castiglione's dialogue? Characterize the atmosphere that is generated by the setting and by the characters' interaction. How are friction and disagreement dealt with in Castiglione? How much do the various characters participate in the discourse? 2. What is the role of "The Duchess" (Elizabetta Gonzaga of Urbino) in this dialogue? Is her social rank important in Castiglione's scheme? 3. Describe the basic views of the meaning of "love" that are held by the various participants in Castiglione's dialogue. 4. Now focus more closely on Peter Bembo's argument. How does he first examine the topic of "beauty?" Describe the progression of his argument—at what conclusion about "love" does Bembo arrive? 5. Does anyone in the dialogue present a strong counter-argument to Bembo's Platonism? 6. Does this excerpt from The Courtier give you a positive sense about the Court of Urbino? If so, why? If not, what is missing from the Court's atmosphere? *Edition: The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 1. 6th. edition. Ed. Meyer Abrams et al. New York: Norton, 1993. |