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.
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.
This presents a key theme in self-fashioning: the conscious effort to strive to imitate a praised model in society.
Depicting the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Christ encouraged women to aspire to provide the same nourishment for their own families and community.
Miles goes on to explain that, although women were encouraged to strive to emulate the many virtues of the Virgin, they must also be aware that one could never fully achieve such a standard.
[3] Chicano scholars have applied self-fashioning to the well-known epistolary, The Mixquiahuala Letters, by Chicana feminist, Ana Castillo.