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The ''Essays'' (french: Essais, ) of Michel de Montaigne are contained in three books and 107 chapters of varying length. They were originally written in
Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from ...
and were originally published in the
Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...
. Montaigne's stated design in writing, publishing and revising the ''Essays'' over the period from approximately 1570 to 1592 was to record "some traits of my character and of my humours." The ''Essays'' were first published in 1580 and cover a wide range of topics. The ''Essais'' exercised an important influence on both French and English literature, in thought and style.


Style

Montaigne wrote in a rather crafted rhetoric designed to intrigue and involve the reader, sometimes appearing to move in a stream-of-thought from topic to topic and at other times employing a structured style that gives more emphasis to the didactic nature of his work. His arguments are often supported with quotations from
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
,
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
texts such as '' De rerum natura'' by
Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ;  – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into En ...
and the works of
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
. Furthermore, his ''Essays'' were seen as an important contribution to both writing form and
skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...
. The name itself comes from the French word ''essais'', meaning "attempts" or "tests", which shows how this new form of writing did not aim to educate or prove. Rather, his essays were exploratory journeys in which he works through logical steps to bring skepticism to what is being discussed.


Content

Montaigne's stated goal in his book is to describe himself with utter frankness and honesty ("''bonne foi''"). The insight into human nature provided by his essays, for which they are so widely read, is merely a by-product of his introspection. Though the implications of his essays were profound and far-reaching, he did not intend or suspect that his work would garner much attention outside of his inner circle, prefacing his essays with, "I am myself the matter of this book; you would be unreasonable to suspend your leisure on so frivolous and vain a subject." Montaigne's essay topics spanned the entire spectrum of the profound to the trivial, with titles ranging from "Of Sadness and Sorrow" and "Of Conscience" to "Of Smells" and "Of Posting" (referring to posting letters). Montaigne wrote at the height of the
French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...
(1562–1598) between Catholics and protestant
Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
. Christianity in the 15th and 16th centuries saw Protestant authors consistently attempting to subvert Church doctrine with reason and scholarship. Consequently, some Catholic scholars embraced skepticism as a means to discredit all reason and scholarship and accept Church doctrine through faith alone. Montaigne never found
certainty Certainty (also known as epistemic certainty or objective certainty) is the epistemic property of beliefs which a person has no rational grounds for doubting. One standard way of defining epistemic certainty is that a belief is certain if and o ...
in any of his inquiries into the nature of man and things, despite his best efforts and many attempts. He mistrusted the certainty of both human reason and experience. He reasoned that while man is finite, truth is infinite; thus, human capacity is naturally inhibited in grasping reality in its fullness or with certainty. Though he did believe in the existence of absolute truth, he believed that such truth could only be arrived at by man through
divine revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
, leaving us in the dark on most matters. He finds the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features, which resonates with
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
thought about the fragility of humans. According to the scholar Paul Oskar Kristeller, "the writers of the period were keenly aware of the miseries and ills of our earthly existence". A representative quote of Montaigne is: "I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself." Citing the case of Martin Guerre as an example, Montaigne believes that humans cannot attain certainty. His
philosophical skepticism Philosophical skepticism ( UK spelling: scepticism; from Greek σκέψις ''skepsis'', "inquiry") is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge. It differs from other forms of skepticism in that it even reject ...
is best expressed in the long essay "An Apology for Raymond Sebond" (Book 2, Chapter 12) in which he embraced the philosophy of Pyrrhonism. Montaigne posits that we cannot trust our reasoning because thoughts just occur to us: we do not truly control them. Further, he says we do not have good reasons to consider ourselves superior to the animals. He is highly skeptical of confessions obtained under torture, pointing out that such confessions can be made up by the suspect just to escape the torture to which he is subjected. In the middle of the section normally entitled "Man's Knowledge Cannot Make Him Good", he wrote that his motto was "What do I know?". The essay on Sebond defended
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. Montaigne also eloquently employed many references and quotes from classical Greek and Roman, i.e. non-Christian authors, especially the
atomist Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms a ...
Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ;  – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into En ...
. Montaigne considered
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
necessary for the raising of children, but disliked the strong feelings of
romantic love Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions. The ''Wiley Blackwell Ency ...
as being detrimental to freedom. One of his quotations is: "Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside desperate to get out." In education, he favored concrete examples and experience over the teaching of abstract knowledge that is expected to be accepted uncritically. Montaigne's essay "On the Education of Children" is dedicated to Diana of Foix. He opposed
European colonization of the Americas During the Age of Discovery, a large scale European colonization of the Americas took place between about 1492 and 1800. Although the Norse had explored and colonized areas of the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short t ...
, deploring the suffering it brought upon the natives.


Chronology

Montaigne heavily edited the ''Essays'' at various points in his life. Sometimes he would insert just one word, while at other times he would insert whole passages. Many editions mark this with letters as follows: * A: passages written 1571–1580, published 1580 * B: passages written 1580–1588, published 1588 * C: passages written 1588–1592, published 1595 (posthumously) A copy of the fifth edition of the ''Essais'' with Montaigne's own "C" additions in his own hand exists, preserved at the Municipal Library of Bordeaux (known to editors as the Bordeaux Copy). This edition gives modern editors a text dramatically indicative of Montaigne's final intentions (as opposed to the multitude of Renaissance works for which no autograph exists). Analyzing the differences and additions between editions show how Montaigne's thoughts evolved over time. Remarkably, he does not seem to remove previous writings, even when they conflict with his newer views.


Influence

The remarkable modernity of thought apparent in Montaigne's essays, coupled with their sustained popularity, made them arguably the most prominent work in French philosophy until the Enlightenment. Their influence over French education and culture is still strong. The official portrait of former French president François Mitterrand pictured him facing the camera, holding an open copy of the ''Essays'' in his hands. English journalist and politician J. M. Robertson argued that Montaigne's essays had a profound influence on the plays of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, citing their similarities in language, themes and structures.


The Essays

Book 1 # "That Men by Various Ways Arrive at the Same End" # "Of Sadness or Sorrow" # "That Our Affections Carry Themselves Beyond Us" # "That the Soul Expends Its Passions Upon False Objects" # "Whether the Governor Himself Go Out to Parley" # "That the Hour of Parley Is Dangerous" # "That the Intention is Judge of Our Actions" # "Of Idleness" # "Of Liars" # "Of Quick or Slow Speech" # "Of Prognostications" # "Of Constancy" # "The Ceremony of the Interview of Princes" # "That Men are Justly Punished for Being Obstinate" # "Of the Punishment of Cowardice" # "A Proceeding of Some Ambassadors" # "Of Fear" # "Not To Judge of Our Happiness Till After Death" # "That To Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die" # "Of Imagination" # "That the Profit of One Man is the Damage of Another" # "Of Custom; We Should Not Easily Change a Law Received" # "Various Events from the Same Counsel" # "Of Pedantry" # "Of the Education of Children" # "Folly to Measure Truth and Error by Our Own Capacity" # "Of Friendship" # "Nine and Twenty Sonnets of Estienne De La Boitie" # "Of Moderation" # " Of Cannibals" # "That a Man is Soberly to Judge of the Divine Ordinances" # "We are to Avoid Pleasures, Even at the Expense of Life" # "Fortune is Often Observed to Act by the Rule of Reason" # "Of One Defect In Our Government" # "Of the Custom of Wearing Clothes" # "Of Cato the Younger" # "That We Laugh And Cry for the Same Thing" # "Of Solitude" # "A Consideration Upon Cicero" # "Relish for Good and Evil Depends Upon Our Opinion" # "Not to Communicate a Man's Honour" # "Of the Inequality Amongst Us" # "Of Sumptuary Laws" # "Of Sleep" # "Of the Battle of Dreux" # "Of Names" # "Of the Uncertainty of Our Judgment" # "Of War Horses, or Destrier" # "Of Ancient Customs" # "Of Democritus and Heraclitus" # "Of the Vanity of Words" # "Of the Parsimony of the Ancients" # "Of a Saying of Caesar" # "Of Vain Subtleties" # "Of Smells" # "Of Prayers" # "Of Age" Book 2 # "Of the Inconstancy of Our Actions" # "Of Drunkenness" # "A Custom of the Isle of Cea" # "To-Morrow's a New Day" # "Of Conscience" # "Use Makes Perfect" # "Of Recompenses of Honour" # "Of the Affection of Fathers to Their Children" # "Of the Arms of the Parthians" # "Of Books" # "Of Cruelty" # "Apology for Raimond Sebond" # "Of Judging of the Death of Another" # "That Our Mind Hinders Itself" # "That Our Desires are Augmented by Difficulty" # "Of Glory" # "Of Presumption" # "Of Giving the Lie" # "Of Liberty of Conscience" # "That We Taste Nothing Pure" # "Against Idleness" # "Of Posting" # "Of Ill Means Employed to a Good End" # "Of the Roman Grandeur" # "Not to Counterfeit Being Sick" # "Of Thumbs" # "Cowardice the Mother of Cruelty" # "All Things Have Their Season" # "Of Virtue" # "Of a Monstrous Child" # "Of Anger" # "Defence of Seneca and Plutarch" # "The Story of Spurina" # "Observation on a War According to Julius Caesar" # "Of Three Good Women" # "Of the Most Excellent Men" # "Of the Resemblance of Children to Their Fathers" Book 3 # "Of Profit and Honesty" # "Of Repentance" # "Of Three Commerces" # "Of Diversion" # "Upon Some Verses of Virgil" # "Of Coaches" # "Of the Inconvenience of Greatness" # "Of the Art of Conference" # "Of Vanity" # "Of Managing the Will" # "Of Cripples" # "Of Physiognomy" # "Of Experience"


English translations

* John Florio (1603) * Charles Cotton (1685–6) ** Later edited by William Carew Hazlitt (1877) * George Burnham Ives (1925) * E.J. Trechmann (1927) * Jacob Zeitlin (1934–6)Prof. Jacob Zeitlin, Educator 30 Years, Head of English
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', 9 December 1937. Retrieved 30 June 2021. Jacob Zeitlin, born 1883, died 1937, Professor of English at University of Illinois.
* Donald M. Frame (1957–8) * J. M. Cohen (1958) * Michael Andrew Screech (1991)


See also

* ''Essays'' (Francis Bacon)


Notes


External links

* Charles Cotton’s translation i
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Essays of Montaigne in 10 volumes
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from the ARTFL project at the University of Chicago (French) {{The Tempest 1580 books Essay collections French non-fiction books Philosophy books Philosophy essays