The Essays (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
- Type of Work: Informal Essays
- Genres: Nonfiction, Essays
- Subjects: Philosophy or philosophers, Religion, Pain, Death or dying, Sixteenth century, Humanism, Skepticism, Stoics
To essay is to “test” or “try,” and Montaigne, thinking of his works as trials of his own judgment and capacities, succeeded in inventing the essay with a personal slant. While often personal, his essays are not confessional or confidential but achieve the universal quality of the greatest literature.
He investigates such topics as happiness, names, the education of children, solitude, repentance, and more than a hundred more. In length the essays range from one or two pages to one of more than a hundred pages.
Living in sixteenth century France, Montaigne had...
[The entire page is 558 words long]
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