During the Time Men Live Without a Common Power to Keep...

This quote from Thomas Hobbes ‘Leviathan, summarizes his opinion of the natural condition of mankind as concerning their felicity and misery. He basically suggests a natural impulse for war embedded in the souls of men who do not have a ruler, or a king. They are without bounds, and without limits. It is a state of anarchy that he envisages. He believes that ‘Nature hath made men so equal that ‘one man can claim to himself any benefit to which another may not pretend as well as he. This, taken from Chapter 11, leads us to a conclusion that three things in the Nature of man bring out complexities that cannot be resolved and lead to tyranny and war. These are competition, diffidence and glory. Mankinds self-instincts for†¦show more content†¦It is this quest for glory that drives Cromwell, and it is this failure to enjoy peace that is picked up in another of Marvells poem that I shall discuss later, ‘Upon Appleton House. For Cromwell, he reflects mans instinct to follow their ‘active star and indulge in battle to protect own interests. So the fact that Cromwell actually is a representation of war, could actually be a negative trait, bringing up an ambiguity also targeted in Norbrooks article, that ‘the poem could be either a satire or a eulogy of Cromwell. (Page 148) In Marvells poem, it is ‘Nature that hateth emptiness, and so a void has to be filled. It is natural for Cromwell to become ‘the hunter, and make Charles ‘the hunted, (Page 157) as Norbrooks article also suggests. Charles representation differs vastly to Cromwells. The monarch, who possesses more power than Cromwell, is reduced to meek submission as he suffers his execution that is staged by Cromwell. He reflects the leader who does not represent the values of man, and is overthrown in a warlike gesture. It is once again a Hobbesian concern. However, it is possible to interpret Charles inclusion in the poem as one that Marvell instils with grace and dignity, as ‘he bowed his comely head, ‘nor