Montaigne & Melancholy: The Wisdom of the Essays (Penguin philosophy) - Softcover

Screech, M.; Fumaroli, Marc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140143629 ISBN 13: 9780140143621

Publisher: Penguin, 1991

Synopsis

Although Montaigne achieved a balance that made him a model humanist thinker, his temperament was sanguine-melancholic. Screech reassesses the Essais, showing how Montaigne steered his melancholy into appropriate psychological channels, seeking a balance of body and soul as a means to avoid madness.

About this title

Review:

A probing, loving companion to the masterwork.--Nicholas Wollaston "Observer "

A sensitive probe into how Montaigne resolved for himself the age-old ambiguities of melancholia and, in doing so, spoke of what he called the 'human condition'.--Roy Porter "London Review Of Books "

Original and important. . . . His study will easily fulfil its avowed aim of making Montaigne's Essays more comprehensible and more enjoyable.--James Supple "Times Higher Education "

An invaluable literary companion to the essays of Montaigne ... the insights it provides are remarkable.--Anthony Storr "Sunday Times "

Synopsis:

In this essay on Montaigne's writings, Screech addresses himself to the theme of melancholy and shows how it runs through all of Montaigne's thought as a subterranean current, checking and countering the philosophic calm which rules the surface of his essays.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0140143629
• ISBN 13: 9780140143621
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224