Reflections of Vanity in Montaigne's "Essais"

Dissertation, Duke University (1992)
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Abstract

Seemingly a very digressive essay addressing such diverse topics as household, travel, death, and the civil wars, Montaigne's "De la vanite" is actually tightly unified around its stated theme of vanity. An examination of the history and tradition of the vanity topos reveals that Montaigne exploits its various facets to more fully demonstrate the presence of vanity within his essay. Very often Montaigne's mention of wind, truth, and emptiness, for example, functions metonymically to suggest or imply vanity. Montaigne's manipulation of these elements reveals that his various "digressions" in fact never stray from the topic of the essay but rather explore its diversified manifestations--its power of semantic dissemination. ;Montaigne also rewrites, appropriates, and manipulates the texts of others to provide an additional or contradictory perspective on vanity. Montaigne's appropriated anecdotes are not always the examples they seem. A seemingly straightforward appropriation suddenly becomes more complex when examination of the intertext reveals a context infused with the theme of vanity. Sometimes the original context of the intertext reveals exactly the opposite meaning from what Montaigne's appropriation of it has suggested, opening up the passage in question to an entirely different interpretation. ;Montaigne's essay on vanity explores and questions the vanity of everything. Montaigne's examination of his own vanities becomes at times very metatextual as he questions even the vanity of his writing. However, rather than condemning vanity as sin, as does traditional Catholic theology, Montaigne flaunts and celebrates his vanities reveling in the pleasures they bring him. How much Montaigne's attitude towards vanity reflects the new biblical exegeses of the Reformation is difficult, if not impossible, to determine. Montaigne accepts vanity as an integral part of the human condition and chooses to live with his vanities and indulge himself to the extent that he can

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