Genre
Philosophy
Setting and Context
3rd Century in the Roman Empire
Narrator and Point of View
Second Person, Marcus Aurelius is writing to himself.
Tone and Mood
Philosophical and hopeful, Aurelius was trying to encourage himself to do the right thing.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Not Applicable, however Aurelius fighting against himself, and trying to do the right thing.
Major Conflict
Aurelius, being Roman Emperor, had to behave in ways he didn't want to. To help him, he compiled Stoic philosophy into this book, teaching himself how to beat procrastination and fear.
Climax
Not applicable, this book doesn't follow a plot, it's a book of compiled advice, thus not having a climax.
Foreshadowing
Aurelius wrote a lot about dying, showing how there is nothing to fear in death. Of course, it isn't surprising to hear that he did die, however, we can see through his writing that he may have succeeded in conquering his fear of death.
Understatement
"Disgust at what things are made of: Liquid, dust, bones, filth. Or marble as hardened dirt, gold and silver as residues, clothes as hair, purple dye as shellfish blood. And all the rest."
Aurelius consistently tries to see things for what they really are, to reveal their actual nature and value. By understating their meaning to most people, and instead describing literally what marble or gold actually are, he can value them correctly.
Allusions
"Things are wrapped in such a veil of mystery that many good philosophers have found it impossible to make sense of them. Even the Stoics have trouble."
Aurelius alludes to the other philosophical schools of thought, including his own, the Stoics.
Imagery
To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.
Aurelius uses imagery to make his analogies strike deeper visually. By giving the image of a rock in the sea, the reader can imagine the effect and understand the point more effectively.
Paradox
None
Parallelism
None
Metonymy and Synecdoche
None
Personification
"Like an olive that ripens and falls.
Praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on."
Creating that personification of the olive tree allows us to see more clearly the role life and death, without being clouded by sentimentality for humans.
