Montaigne Montaigne S Message And Method

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Word Study in Montaigne's Essais Modern readers in need of a precise understanding both of the changes in the French language over the last 400 years since the Essais was written and of the idiosyncracies of Montaigne's usage will appreciate these articles exploring the nuances and fluctuations in the meaning of many of Montaigne's words. These critical studies of Montaigne's vocabulary and its shifting contexts will aid in understanding how Montaigne's choice of words reflects his ability to take elements from his background of wide-ranging, life-long classical reading and blend them with his own original, unflagging curiosity and speculation about matters relating to contemporary life.

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

By far the best collection of sources to introduce readers to Renaissance humanism in all its many guises. What distinguishes this stimulating and useful anthology is the vision behind it: King shows that Renaissance thinkers had a lot to say, not only about the ancient world--one of their habitual passions--but also about the self, how civic experience was configured, the arts, the roles and contributions of women, the new science, the 'new' world, and so much more. --Christopher S. Celenza, Johns Hopkins University

Shakespare and Montaigne are the English and French writers of the sixteenth century who have the most to say to modern readers. Shakespeare certainly drew on Montaigne's essay 'On Cannibals' in writing The Tempest and debates have raged amongst scholars about the playwright's obligations to Montaigne in passages from earlier plays including Hamlet, King Lear and Measure for Measure. Peter Mack argues that rather than continuing the undeterminable quarrel about how early in his career Shakespeare came to Montaigne, we should focus on the similar techniques they apply to shared sources. Grammar school education in the sixteenth century placed a special emphasis on reading classical texts in order to reuse both the ideas and the rhetoric. This book examines the ways in which Montaigne and Shakespeare used their reading and argued with it to create something new. It is the most sustained account available of the similarities and differences between these two great writers, casting light on their ethical and philosophical views and on how these were conveyed to their audience.