The Imagery of the Prince - “Of Sorrow”
Montaigne builds the imagery of a sequence of sorrow: “A story that may very fitly be coupled with another of the same kind, of recent date, of a prince of our own nation, who being at Trent, and having news there brought him of the death of his elder brother, a brother on whom depended the whole support and honour of his house, and soon after of that of a younger brother, the second hope of his family, and having withstood these two assaults with an exemplary resolution; one of his servants happening a few days after to die, he suffered his constancy to be overcome by this last accident; and, parting with his courage, so abandoned himself to sorrow and mourning, that some thence were forward to conclude that he was only touched to the quick by this last stroke of fortune; but, in truth, it was, that being before brimful of grief, the least addition overflowed the bounds of all patience.”
The prince’s life is marred by a progression of sorrow that contributes to the absolute crumbling of his fortitude. The prince breaks down irrepressibly upon discerning of his servants’ expiry. People would suppose him to break down following his brothers’ departures but he does not. Seemingly, the wounds from the sorrows that he sustains build up gradually and climax when he ascertains a third demise. The prince’s title would not buffer him from sorrowfulness, and the sorrow surfeits his heart to the extent that she cannot painlessly withstand it.
The Imagery of the Expedition - “Of Constancy”
Marquis’ imagery during the expedition reinforces Montaigne’s philosophy on constancy: “And yet, in the expedition that the Emperor Charles V. made against us into Provence, the Marquis de Guast going to reconnoitre the city of Arles, and advancing out of the cover of a windmill, under favour of which he had made his approach, was perceived by the Seigneurs de Bonneval and the Seneschal of Agenois, who were walking upon the ‘theatre aux ayenes’; who having shown him to the Sieur de Villiers, commissary of the artillery, he pointed a culverin so admirably well, and levelled it so exactly right against him, that had not the Marquis, seeing fire given to it, slipped aside, it was certainly concluded the shot had taken him full in the body.”
Marquis’ opportune slip protects his life; he does not underestimate the shot. Had Marquis averred on constancy he would have seamlessly positioned himself for the shot that would have broken his lifespan. The expedition validates that one should not unreservedly hold onto constancy even when death is intrinsic. When constancy becomes unsanctionable it should be rejected, or else it will lead to immutable upshots.
