Author: t.wu4

In the essay “Of the Inconsistency of Our Actions,” Montaigne makes a claim that “to judge a man, we must follow his traces long and carefully.” “A man who does not have a picture of the whole in his head cannot possibly arrange the pieces.” While I agree that humans are inconsistent, I do not agree with this sentiment that it is a negative characteristic. Like Montaigne mentions earlier in the essay, “we do not go; we are carried away.” We are subject to the changing environments, both internally and externally, and as a result of that, changed in the person themselves will obviously follow. That is just a necessary characteristic propelling the progression of their character to meet the demands of those changing environments. Even if a person has the picture in their minds, sometimes they are not in control of the arrangement. Without those twists and turns, which gives the mission purpose, they will be disingenuous in their self-proclaimed paths, and does not make a better person than someone who is inconsistent.

As a child, Augustine viewed schooling as something that was forced upon him by the adults who he was taught to obey. “Short of being driven to it, I certainly would not have learned.” While he did not enjoy it, it was something that he had to do, and he did it well. During his adolescence, he became a leading scholar in the School of Rhetoric and was arrogant with his achievements, and in his adulthood, he became a teacher of rhetoric in Carthage and then Rome. “I was studying the books of eloquence; for in eloquence it was my ambition to shine… for the satisfaction of human vanity.” As he grew older, he recognized education as a tool for gaining honor and glory amongst men. Although he claims that good was done to him, by God, by being forced to learn to read and write so that he could express himself, his “earthly intentions” were not as pure and grand.

One of the ways that Shakespeare depicts the spread of corruption is through Claudius’s influence in his court. As he is the character who is the source of Hamlet’s agony and the ruler of all of Denmark, his influence is symbolic of the corruption in Denmark. To be sided with Claudius means to be an enemy of Hamlet. Not only is he able to control his chief counsellor, Polonius, who also controls his own family Laertes and Ophelia, he also manipulates Hamlet’s own childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to literally escort Hamlet on his way to death. Even Hamlet’s mother does not believe that Claudius is a guilty of any crime, and that Hamlet has gone mad instead. As all the characters in the play are Claudius’s puppets, there is no one to question or counteract his evil intentions. In the end, Claudius’s corruption has spread throughout the entire court, and Hamlet is the only one who challenges him.