Why Montaignes Essays?
When I first decided to scrutinize Montaigne’s Essays for signs of Stoicism, I did not expect to find a bulging storehouse of Stoic wisdom. Probably because the opinions of academics are socially constructed just as those of ordinary mortals, Montaigne has come down to us as a hero of the skeptic rebellion against medieval superstition, and it is for skepticism that we read him today. Of course he is skeptical, but I see that side of him only as a part of his Stoicism, for skepticism clearly owes its beginnings to the Stoics, who taught self-doubt as a virtue. I actually chose Montaigne for his links to Shakespeare. Shakespeare was born in 1564. In this year Montaigne was 31, on the verge of becoming a major force in European literature. In 1595, when Shakespeare was just beginning his career, Montaigne’s Essays were published in three volumes, three years after his death in 1592. Since the first two volumes had been in print for 15 years, the arrival of a complete edition (revised), m
