rguing that "just as one stone cannot be more perfectly stone than another stone, the male cannot be more perfect than the female, since both are included under the species man." He goes on to say that men and women are equally important because in that together they work towards the highest purposes of life, especially procreation. He also gives numerous examples of exemplary women "who have waged wars and won glorious victories, governed kingdoms and done all that men have,"and further wrote that "If you compare the merits of women with those of men in any age whatsoever you will find that they have never been, nor are they now, the slightest bit inferior." Castiglione seems to take an especially strong stance in the exchanges on the equality of women. During these conversations Gaspare comes off as extremely ignorant, slanderous and chauvinistic, quite unlike the courtier that was so thoughtfully constructed by his companions. Castiglione appears to have done this with special purpose, constructing Gaspare to represent the opinion of many men, in order to emphasis the senselessness with which they viewed women as inferior. Castiglione must have thought that any sensible person would see the logic in Magnifico's argument and the ignorance in Gaspare's, causing them to question their own position, yet the subordination of women continued. Castiglione spent a great deal of this section defending the virtues of women and attacking the hypocrisy and double standards of men, whom he blames for assaulting the chastity of noble and virtuous women. He even suggested that women are the essence of life, writing, "with out women we can get no pleasure or satisfaction out of life, which but for them would lack charm and be more uncouth and savage than that of wild beasts." Castiglione's valiant attempt to defend women and eliminate their inferiority raises another interesting question, that being the extent to which either opinion of women...
