In his essay
“collection” Montaigne approaches many different subjects that are probably
interrelated in his brain in some twisted way, but the rest of the world must
digress. He jumps from one topic to the next without taking a breath in
between, and his seemingly chaotic ramblings within the text further prove that
David Foster Wallace was on to something great. Wallace suggested that
everything that goes on in the mind is too fast and chaotic to explain, and
this definitely parallels Montaigne’s style of writing like Mount Vesuvius is
having a relapse. Then there’s Jane Austen, the epitome of all things austere
and yet tragically forbidden, who writes tentatively of the growing love
between Elizabeth and Darcy. Unlike Montaigne, Austen presents her thoughts in
a clear and concise manner that brushes the foundation of chaotic without fully
reaching it, and it is in this contrast that Montaigne’s chaotic style differs
greatly from Austen’s elegant approach while further solidifying Wallace’s
claims.
Montaigne broaches many different
topics that skip from war horses to ancient customs and so on. These topics
seem to be unrelated, but within Montaigne’s mind there was a connection that
spurred to life the next subject. His range of topics like the parsimony of the
ancients and a saying of Caesar support Wallace’s claim that what goes on in
the mind is too fast to fully explain. Wallace’s claims are also supported in
the text within the essays which is chaotic and rambling. In “Of War Horses”
Montaigne’s thoughts take him from the uses of war horses in battle to how in
some cultures those who did not ride horses were considered slaves. This chaos is
also seen in “Of Smells” when Montaigne goes from explaining how he likes sweet
smells to explaining why he doesn’t like Paris or Venice. All of the chaos and
skipping from one subject to the next shows that Montaigne’s mind was plagued
by ceaseless thoughts and he probably resembled a monkey on crack. A monkey on
crack, but brilliant nonetheless.
When one thinks of Jane Austen they
probably think of an elegant English lady who drank tea and ate crumpets, which
are pancakes, while raising her pinky finger in the air. Some of these austere
mannerisms are definitely seen in her work, especially in the way she develops
Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship. It is a tentative and anticipatory approach
that leaves everything to the imagination, which is probably the reason why
people are lured to her work. In Montaigne’s essay “Of Vain Subtleties” he
dives right in with the blunt force of a blade and forces people to jump from
one parallel to the next, there is no easing someone into an idea like with
Austen. Another contrast is seen in the way Austen’s thoughts are very precise
and lead to the next scene with rationale, while Montaigne goes from suicide to
the reading of letters in one disorderly leap. It is inevitable to say that Austen
and Montaigne resemble each other as much as a dog and a bone, and this is
definitely reflected in their different styles of writing.
It’s safe to say at this point that
Montaigne is the epitome of pandemonium. His thoughts are ceaseless, and his
inner ramblings almost make sense but not quite. He skips from subject to
subject more times than Henry VIII, and he definitely supports David Foster
Wallace’s claims that the mind is chaotically interconnected and it cannot be
fully explained. Montaigne also contrasts Jane Austen in a way that makes their
styles completely unrelated. While he is direct and doesn’t contain pretense,
she is tentative, and while he jumps from one mad rambling to the next, she is
cursed with rationale. It is within these examples that one finds Montaigne to
be disorderly, and yet inherently human.
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