Author: MARKETIN HILA

Montaigne is incredibly influenced by imagination. In “Of The Power Of Imagination”, The essay opens up with the words “A strong imagination creates the events”,  in other words imagination can create reality. Most of this essay is a collection of stories proving that thesis. Montaigane points out situations during which imagination controlled illnesses, age, youth appearance, gender, and impotence. For instance, a great doctor discussed with him ways to cure his illness. Montaigne continues to discuss his stories that are factually questionable. He claims that he isn’t responsible for his stories, since he got them from others. He points out that they might be possible so if they’re actually true doesn’t matter. He also argues that he’s writing about the past, not the present. Montaigne’s imagination also comes from the essay, “Of experience”. Montaigne mentions the power of a person’s mind when he discusses his condition since he developed stones. He states that he rarely ever consults physicians on his health. He didn’t follow others with the same condition where they were either on a diet or taking medicinal drugs which were believed to be the cure but instead choosing to heal with his imagination. He strongly believes that healing is actually a matter of deceiving our minds.

The mythical all female warrior civilization, known as the Amazons, is utilized by Pizan as a model for the all female city that expects setting forth and creating. As Pizan states in the beginning of the book, the Amazons were able to convene together and lead their society successfully without any male presence and Pizan admires how they were able to build and maintain a society through their own rule and determination. Pizan also mentions how they were so commited that they were even willing to mutilate themselves to reach their goals. Amazon warriors burned off their left breast so they could carry a shield more effectively and their right breast removed so that they could shoot arrows more effectively. The removal of a single breast is a symbolic act of immense commitment. They were willing to sacrifice a piece of their own body in the defense of their way of life. The Amazons are symbolic of their dedication to a goal and their willingness to make very personal sacrifices even if it means being able to achieve an objective in the long run.

Gertrude is Hamlet’s mother, widow to the late king Hamlet and wife of the current king, Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet very much but is a weak woman who seeks affection. She goes off to marry Claudius very soon after the late king Hamlet’s death. Claudius is the uncle of Hamlet, the new husband of Gertrude and the new king of Denmark. Claudius plays the biggest villain in the play as the man who is behind the death of Hamlet’s father. Claudius is also the man that plans to have Hamlet killed not by his own hands but has Laertes help him with poison. Polonius is the counsellor in Claudius’s court and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius is an old man who plays a villian that is conniving and scheming. He connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet to reveal what causes his madness. Ophelia is described as a beautiful young woman and is the love interest of the main character Hamlet. Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, and father, Polonius, warn her that she is only for Hamlet’s sexual desire. Her relationship with these men eventually leads to her death. Laertes spends most of his time away in France for college. He returns for revenge when he hears about the death of his father. Haratio is the most loyal and trustworthy friend, if not the only one. He shows his loyalty and trustworthiness throughout the play. In the end, Haratio decides to live to tell the story of Hamlet.

The use of Imagery in Oresteia is like a darkness imagery. When Clytaemestra kills her husband, Agamemnon, she uses words like “spattered” and “Violent driven rain” creating a horror image of her and the room being covered in blood. Another example of imagery is in The Libation Bearers, Clytaemestra had a dream of giving birth to a snake which turns around a bites her. The snake resembled Orestes, her son, and that he is coming to get revenge for her killing his father. The torches light up in the house as a sign that he is coming. A form of irony is Clytemnestra tries to keep Electra, her daughter, in the city preventing her from getting revenge. Ironically, this backfires when Orestes returns and Electra helps him on a way to sneak into the palace so that he can murder Clytemnestra.