ABSTRACT
Ottaviano and Bembo are the two principal speakers of Castiglione's work, with Ottaviano setting out a vision of the political life of the courtier and Bembo immediately afterward doing the same for the courtier's philosophical life. Bembo also follows immediately after Ottaviano in the work's opening discussion of possible games. Nevertheless the relationship between Ottaviano and Bembo does not seem to be that of novice and expert. When Bembo speaks after Ottaviano on the subject of love, both at the beginning and at the end of the Courtier, he does not seek to oppose or correct what Ottaviano has said about this topic; on the contrary, he seems to accept it while expanding upon it. Bembo speaks up, however, in favor of republics. He begins by asserting that liberty, which is a divine gift, should not be restricted, which happens under the dominion of princes, who for the most part hold their subjects in the closest bondage.
