The theme of this reading is to show how absolutism was a part of monarchy. This reading by Sir Walter Raleigh shows us that during that time the kings had complete power that they compared to the power of God. Raleigh talks about how kings are not only compared to the divine power but also compared to the father of a family, a father figure politically, and the power of "the body of man". He describes and defends how the kings of this age think very highly of themselves and have much power. He uses metaphors and comparisons, to show us what roles the Kings play and the responsibilities that they have over their land.
Several things that came to mind when I read this was that Sir Walter Raleigh was a very interesting writer. He climb the "power ladder" very successfully and was knighted in 1584. When he was in power he was a very good ruler and handled responsibility very well. He was shown to be fair to his workers however at the time this reading was written, Raleigh was not well liked in Europe. Another thing that stood out to me was when in the reading it stated,"The state of monarchie is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only Gods lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon Gods throne, but even by God himself they are called gods." What I don't understand is why he felt like he could state these things as if he had the authority. He clearly was not turning to the Bible for this because where in their Bible is it written that human kings filled with sin and God's angels are the same. I know that in the Bible God doesn't want us to call anyone else God besides Himself so that statement seems incorrect. We are to follow the laws unless they go again what God has commanded and I feel like due to this statement, this would one of this instances where you would have to go towards what is commanded by God rather than following that law. It is an issue of loyalty.
After reading this I noticed that in this reading Raleigh states, "No one man should have all that power". I feel that this making a valid point. I don't think that a large amount of power should ever be given to a very sinful person, which would include all of mankind, which there means that no one should have all that power like Raleigh is talking about.
Reading this makes me think about how it can be compared to how powerful of a company Mcdonalds' is in comparison to the competitors in the fast food industry. So many people show so much respect to it and everyone all over seems to know what it is because of all the advertisement especially. People don't notice the major flaws of the restaurant because of how much authority it is given by mankind, as far as fast food is concerned at least. There is arguably no other fast food company in the world that can match the absolute power of Mcdonalds.
This reading relates the text because in our book the European monarchs practiced absolutism by eliminating the other parts of their country that were either weak or a threat to their authority.This is exactly how it was describe in Sir Walter Raleigh's reading. They had the ability to cut off weak members and such as if to show they weren't needed or wanted. Which is a lot like how the monarchies of Europe wanted to extend their state and therefore their power just like the kings are the natural fathers of their families and therefore want to expand and control the new incomers.
No comments:
Post a Comment