Montaigne and Diderot

I began reading Montaigne’s essay “On the Power of the Imagination” with entirely different expectations than what was actually presented in the work. Montaigne introduces ambiguity the separation between imagination and reality. Through various examples, Montaigne illustrates the power of the imagination to infringe upon reality. He suggests that through extensive visualization and imagination in the mind events can actually happen. In order to illustrate this idea, Montaigne provides the example of a man becoming impotent from his imagination out of fear of poor sexual performance. The penis is then described as an object of unreliability due to its unpredictable behavior, often thrusting itself forward when not needed and then letting the body down in times of need. However, Montaigne quickly becomes a lawyer defending the penis and its unpredictability as he questions the reader if there is indeed any body part that we do have absolute control over, providing manifold examples of parts that often act against our will.

Just as the penis is seen as uncontrollable and unpredictable in Montaigne’s essay, female parts, or “jewels,” become just as unreliable in Diderot’s work “The Indiscreet Jewels.” At first, female jewels seem cultured and restrained, but through the power of the sultan’s magic ring, they are revealed as just as uncontrollable as the male penis. Not only do the women lose their ability to control their jewels in the presence of the magic ring, but their jewels begin to talk and confess in the sexual behaviors they have engaged in, depicting the excessive sensual desires of the female parts. Thus, the female jewels slip from their throne of composure and control and fall to the level of the unpredictable male penis.