austen/montaigne essay

Michel de Montaigne is often credited as being the father of the modern essay. In his chief work, Essais de Michel de Montaigne, he covers a wide range of topics and tries to describe man as well as his own thoughts. His stream-of-conscious style coupled with his tendency of moving from topic to topic as they popped in his mind, bolster David Foster Wallace’s claim that “What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant’”. His Essais (literally attempts or trails) offer a better look at his thought process and outline of the world around him. They, much like Jan Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, also offer a form of social criticism of the time they lived in.

Montaigne wrote his essays in a stream-of-conscious style, which is used to depict the various thoughts and emotions that flow through the mind. In this technique, he covers an extremely wide variety topics; from natives in the Americas, to Christianity, to love and the necessity of marriage to procreate. He was alive and writes his essays during a great time of upheaval and enlightenment in Europe, known as the Renaissance, so his mind was flooded with new ideas he wanted to question. By writing his essays, he was able to sketch a rough outline of society and his thoughts. Despite that his essays span the entirety of three complete books, he barely manages to scratch the surface of his consciousness, human nature, and why do we do what we do. Montaigne acknowledges his lack of certainty and knowledge by living by his motto of “What do I know?” Michel de Montaigne was also renowned skeptic, questioning his knowledge. He denounced commonly accepted ideas, which spurred his skepticism.

Through his essays and inner monologue style of writing, we are given a peep into how he approaches problems that surround him. He is very analytical and tends to ramble on, much like most people do in their mind. He lays out his every thought and emotion on just about everything and doesn’t refrain from getting into the nitty-gritty of his mind and the society he is criticizing and examining. Montaigne and Austen are similar in the way that both their chief works serve as a criticism of society at their respective times.

Austen wrote in a time where a woman’s entrance into the public light meant a loss of her femininity. There were also deep socio-economic stratifications of classes which dictated who you married based on your family’s connections and wealth. These are all evident themes in Pride and Prejudice, in which the main character, Elizabeth Price, along with her sisters are under constant social pressures to marry (or not marry) certain people just because they are lower on the social ladder than other families. Montaigne opposed the colonization of the Americas and made us think who were truly barbarians; the “sophisticated” Europeans, or the “backwards” natives of the Americas. He provides solid evidence in his essay “On Cannibals”, citing that Europeans are quick to label different cultures and lifestyles barbaric simply because they are different. He goes on to say that natives go to war for noble purposes as opposed to Europeans, who war for the need to conquer new lands. He also adds that cannibalism is much more humane than the cruelty performed in Europe, such as the Spanish Inquisition.

“What do I know?” is a relevant quote Montaigne often found asking himself. Through his essays, which can’t be contained to a single topic, we are able to take a peek into is thought process and the society around him. Both Montaigne’s and Austen’s writing serve as a social criticism in their style of writing. Montaigne understands he doesn't know it all, or even a minuscule fraction, but he is trying to outline it and make sense of his mind through written word.