Louis XIV from a courtier's perspective

Having read "Duc de Saint Simone: The Court of Louis XIV," my picture of Louis XIV has become a little clearer. Clearer, at least, from the prespective of courtier. It would seem that my initial impression that Louis was a bit of a megelomatic/narcissitic ruler is one that has been shared by many throughout the ages, and even in Louis' own time as his one major character flaw was said to be his, "love of hearing his own praises." Although this allowed those who knew it the opportunity to advance their own station by exploiting this flaw, to a great extent this one trait had, arguably, the greatest influence on Louis' long reign and had many good (for Louis at least) effects. Indeed, while Narcissism is clearly evident in many aspects of his court (i.e. the fact that he stood for ceremony like none who had ever come before him had), this ended up helping both consolidate his power over the nobility and solidify his image as a detached, and even divine, ruler in minds of his courtiers. For instance, even though we can't possibly see any honor in holding a candle for a man, and would even view it as an insult, to hold a candle for Louis was, "a great honor" and not only garnered pride for the person selected for the task, but also increased his court standing as well, for it showed that he was in teh King's favor. On the other hand, his courtiers also tended to see him as possesing, "natural talents were below mediocrity." However, this was, by no means, a great weakness, rather, in the words of the same courtier he also possesed, "a mind capable of improvement." Thus, Louis naturally came to be a man who was, "was naturally prudent, moderate, and reserved; always master of his tongue and his emotions." Likewise, knowledgeable of his own shortcomings (although he would never admit to them aloud), Louis was a man who put great value on talent, explaining why he was so direct in his elevation of the Nobless de la Robe, but also implying that he would have probably been sympathetic to Galileo's dilema (the trial) than the clergy. Unfortunately what this also means for me in my character role, is that being prudent and a "master of his tongue and emotions" was not prone to passionate outcries or outbursts (which is really where all the fun is). It would seem that I ust find a way to be both adamant in my defense of Galileo whilst being clever and soft-spken at the same time.