Masculino-femenino. La representación del amor en el libro El Cortesano, de Luys Milán

Abstract

Masculine-feminine. The representation of love in El Cortesano, by Luys Milán

In the book El Cortesano, written by Luis de Milán, a Valencian nobleman of the court of Mrs Germana de Foix and her second husband the Duke of Calabria, it is stated that the author had been inspired by Castiglione’s Il Cortegiano, published in 1528. Indeed, just as the Italian story is set in the court of Urbino, the action in Milán’s book takes place in the Valencian court between 1526 and 1536. In this ‘Cortesano’, however, the differences in form and con tent are surprising: the theatricality of the composition and the carnival form, the exaggeration and the humour more characteristic of popular literature. The courtiers, appearing here with their real names and surnames, speak for themselves, as if in a theatre, of their habits and their moral values. The tone of mockery, which facilitates expression, also serves to mark, along with the criticism of the courtiers’ habits, the moral values they raise. Differently for each sex. Finally, the plurality of the voices which appear in the text, shows us the ideological discrepancies and moral tensions that were characteristic of the Valencian elites.