Michel de Montaigne Essay

     Maximillien Robespierre is commonly viewed as the symbol of the Reign of Terror, the short period in which thousands of people were executed because they were thought to be traitors. However, Maximillien was actually an idealistic reformer with an image of peace and equality driving him on, who is unfairly credited with the Terror, and assumed to be a power-hungry tyrant.

Napoleon was one of the most important figures in European history. As one of the greatest military leaders, Napoleon did many things to modernize the European nations he ruled.

acques LeCoq, a French practitioner and Augusto Boal, a Brazilian practitioner both aim to take their actors and the audience on a journey of discovery. Both Practitioners believed in ‘Freeing’ the body and making it ‘De-mechanicalized’ to enable full interpretation. LeCoq and Boal both use emotion, imagination, extensive body movement, playfulness and political matters to create their methods of theatrical practice.

Mortality is a moving and compelling subject. This end is a confirmation of one’s humanity and the end of one’s substance. Perhaps that is why so many writers and poets muse about their own death in their writings. Keats and John Donne are two such examples of musing poets who share the human condition experience in When I Have Fears and Holy Sonnet 1.

Although Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great, brought death and destruction through his wars, there are many positive aspects of his reign, such as the creation of Versailles and the building of France’s national army. He did what had never been done before. He changed the lifestyle and the attitude of France by creating one of the most powerful monarchies ever to be built and at the same time, reassured all the nobility and other wealthy groups of their political and social standings. He made it clear that he was the final decision maker yet he still needed the help of the nobility and other authorities.

to get all the power of France. It should also be said that not all the nobles

when it was in the middle of a stride with its hooves in the air and

The French Revolution was a period of time from 1789 to 1799 in France where there was political instability. It officially began on the 14th of July, 1789, when the Bastille, which was a symbol of the King’s harsh policies, was stormed. The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie-Antoinette and about 40,000 people were all brutally murdered. But there was also a positive side, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was formally adopted on August 1789 and feudalism was abolished. This essay will address the issues of the three estates system, food shortages and the fiscal crisis. It will also be argued that the most significant cause of the French Revolution was the social inequality that stemmed from the three estates system.

As I researched life and death in his works, I assumed that he was fascinated with it. This belief is reflected in The Span of Life, a two-line poem that contains a whole lot of symbolism. It is the story of a dog that is too old to get up. The narrator is reminiscing of when the dog was a pup. This poem reminded me of an old man looking back on his life, wondering where all the years went. I translated these two short lines into a person's submission to life and death, accepting the fact that one must die sometime.

Achille-Claude Debussy or Claude Debussy was a French 20th century composer known for his prominent role in impressionistic music. Debussy never described his pieces as impressionism as he disliked the term when it was associated with his music. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he and his family left for Paris in 1867 only to move to Cannes in 1870 to escape the Franco-Prussion war. Claude Debussy learnt to play piano from an Italian violinist by the name Jean Cerutti and later studied under a woman, by the name of Marie Mauté de Fleurville, who claimed to have been a pupil of Frédéric Chopin. In 1872 he was enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire and remained there to develop musically over the next 11 years. Debussy was infamous for his experimental nature breaking

The experience of moral thinking of Michel de Montaigne is inextricably linked to the state of morality in his time. The moral crisis of the modern era, cruelty and inhuman attitude of people towards each other in particular, causes Montaigne's genuine outrage. Montaigne angrily responds to the morality of his era, where violence, torture, and murder are the norm.

Art has been part of our society since humanity existed. For countless years’ people been creating, observing, criticizing and appreciating art. Claude Monet’s piece titled Sunrise (Marine) illustrates the daylight in the industrial port of Le Havre of the north coast, France. This piece was made in March or April of 1873. The piece’s present location is the J. Paul Getty Museum, west pavilion, gallery w204. The medium is oil on canvas and is next to another piece made by Monet called The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in the morning light. Claude Monet was part of the impressionist movement that changes French paintings of the nineteenth century. For Sunrise (1872), people criticized the paint due to the appearance of an unfinished painting,

Montaigne and St. Augustine’s views of happiness and the self are both very compelling and indicative of the times of which they were living. If both Montaigne and St. Augustine were to converse today, it would be apparent that there would be a bit of clashing between their unique methods of applying human logic to achieve a higher level of understanding of daily events and the environment around them. St. Augustine uses a linear, dogmatic technique to emphasize one’s sins while still glorifying God, and Montaigne with a more fluid, skeptical, unbiased approach through personal reflection. These two distinct ways of perceiving the self and higher order understanding are apparent in Montaigne’s Essays and St. Augustine’s narrative Confessions.

These examples illustrate Montaigne’s belief that while there is some justification to base a judgment based on daily activities, it is nearly impossible to create a proper judgment of humankind, and when a historian cannot, they become hypocrites.

René Descartes was a French philosopher and also mathematician. His method of doubt led him to the famous "cogito ergo sum" when translated means "I am thinking, therefore I exist". This cogito was the foundation for Descartes' quest for certain knowledge. He explored doubt and how we can prove our own existence, by taking the first steps of scepticism. His book "Meditations On First Philosophy", was written in six parts. Each representing the six days that God took to create the world. Not to upset the Church, Descartes would need to prove the existence of God, and the soul. Within Descartes' argument, we find some important areas. Two, which require focus, are his