Of Montaigne Essays - Literature, Epistemologists, French Nobility

Of Montaigne One of the most influential writer during the French Renaissance, Michel de Montaigne, was known for speaking his mind and communicating himself to the readers openly. Montaigne writings were famous for weighing himself and his beliefs in an essay format, popularizing this genre. The French essayist unique talent lied in the fact he was able to express his thoughts as a introspection and critic of himself, making him "see himself as an average human being"(1) This relatability between him and the audience ranged from descriptions of himself or his particular habits such as "does his best thinking on horseback" or "prefers glasses to metal cups". Though these comments and confessions may seem irrelevant, they create a powerful persona projected towards the readers causing some of them to question his genuineness. This is shown clearly in his piece, Of Books. Of Books describes Montaigne thoughts on reading books as a casual reader and gripes on reading scholarly or even just uninteresting books. He goes on to recount his favourite authors, most beloved books, his way of reading, and his reasons for reading whatever he reads. Montaigne is incredibly honest with his flaws towards his readers, whether it is about his particular reading patterns or himself as a person. He is truly genuine as he explains all of his reasoning behind the opinions and values he supports. To exemplify this, he goes on to demonstrates the little effort he expands when he is not able to understand a piece. "I come across difficult passages in my reading I never bit my nails over them: after making a charge or two I let them be ...If one book wearies me I take up another"(2) His justification was that "I seek in books only to give myself pleasure by honest amusement" which is the objective of most nonscholar readers. Montaine writing remains authentic because he con nects the experience and qualities of being human. The sense of reliability is crowded within the essays. An example would be when he states, "What I do not see in the first attack, I see less by persisting". This statement lets the audience sympathize with the writer and the apply this to other points of their life when they faced tough task and encounters. He is uncommonly genuineness towards himself and even his knowledge or lack thereof in his writings. Montaigne is also known for his beliefs about the the "basic unity to human experience"(2) and the acceptance of humans traits and flaws. In this essay, he first provides heavy detailed information about the exceedingly deformed conjoined identical twins. He described the child in great length about not just the appearance but the fact that it could walk, it had a peculiar cry and that he was unwilling to take nourishment from his nurses beast. Making the analogy, "to the king that he will maintain under the union of his laws these various parts and factions of our states", he explains how the child is able to function with these multiple limbs and extra appendages. He then recounts his own experience, meeting a shepherd who was deformed without genitals but was no less of a person. The shepherd is bearded, has desires and likes to touch women, proving Montaigne point of deformities and injuries do not define the person. The french essayist tells the story of love of God and how thro ugh his eyes, they were all his creation and created just as intended. There were no deformities in the creations of God but human traits and conditions. Montaigne asserts that "We call contrary to nature what happens contrary to custom; nothing is anything but according to nature, whatever it may be." His reasoning was that the "custom" that we like to believe is the standard is false. He believed that "nature", the possibility of everything, was the custom we should believe in and there are no errors even if it does not fit our individual perspective of the "custom". Whatever comes in nature is natural in the eyes of God. And the same should be true of us. The purpose of this piece is to commentate on society views of the unnatural and the ones who do not