"the book of the courtier", by baldassare castiglione, is one of the first texts that depicted behaviors which individuals were expected to adopt in society. as an informal book of conduct, "the courtier" included instructions on how people of the noble class were to dress and speak, as well as general rules of interaction to follow in social situations. in his article "the semiotics of masculinity in renaissance england", david kuchta discusses the role of "the courtier" concerning its influence on the self-fashioning of renaissance england. men of the noble class were to "create" themselves as works of art, according to the conventions of dress and manner as set forth by the monarchs. characteristics of this renaissance self-fashioning involve the use of "feminine" aspects of dress and conduct. a man was to conduct and dress in a way that reflected his position in society. he was not supposed to act in an affected manner, but present naturalness and nonchalance, or sprezzatura. in addition to, "the courtier" puts emphasis on the importance of not only trying to resemble one's master, but actually trying to transform himself into his master in a way that exercises sprezzatura. this presents a key theme in self-fashioning: the conscious effort to strive to imitate a praised model in society.