Grace To Taste In The 16th And 17th Centuries

A Brief Look at the Shift from “Grace to Taste” in the 16th and 17th Centuries

Many works of poetry or prose in the 16th century detailed men that were suffering from courtly or lost love, and they took to paper to iron out their frustrations. These writers were dedicated to loving one woman at a time, or they were men that were longing for a woman that landed outside of their social standing or marriage. During this time period, courtly love was incredibly popular, and arrangements were often made to benefit either party (and didn’t always mean that they were both in love.) This meant that many people were left with broken hearts and scandalous feelings. Men would often dedicate their works to women directly, just so they would know exactly how they felt about them. The women that men usually went after displayed enormous amounts of grace and elegance, and many men emphasized

Love was once something that was so emotional, and everybody pined for a love that was pure and just. But, a switch was flipped in the 17th century, and as people became more self-obsessed, many men began to only be interested in women that could keep up with their opulent lifestyles. Some men, like Dorimant, had no problem getting women to drool over him. Other men, like Fopling, chose to go overboard in their wardrobe choices, which made it hard for any woman to take him seriously. It’s evident that if you are a more graceful person, then you are more likely to pull off your sense of taste. However, having an exclusive, overbearing sense of “good taste” can also hinder your ability to experience anything else that the world has to offer, and those with “bad taste” often are the ones that are more open to different lifestyles. There are certainly connections between grace and taste, but there are also differences that separate the