Montaigne/ Austen Essay

Not every writer can ramble on into their own thoughts and still make enough sense for the readers to get a gist of what the writer is trying to accomplish. Montaigne is not your average type of writer. He invented the essay, to which many teenagers today despise. Besides that point, Montaigne is a vey unique writer in a way that he speaks,or in this event, writes before he thinks. This statement is quite contradicting on it’s own because to write includes a thought, but Montaigne is the exception because he is the perfect example of stream of consciousness writing. As Wallace states, "What goes on inside is just too fast and huge..." which is how Montaigne's writing style is. In comparison to Jane Austen's writing style, Jane makes Montaigne look mentally insane.

 Montaigne’s biggest literary technique used in his writings is his famously known stream of consciousness. Most of his essays have a point hidden deep down as long as the reader can keep up. Sometimes Montaigne’s essays titles may not even be relevant to the actual essay’s topic, which goes to prove how sporadic his writing can be. At some points he also starts talking about one subject but then switching to another at the end of his spiel like in Of Custom, And That We Should Not Easily Change A Law Received. But, most his essays like That To Study Philosophy Is To Learn To Die keep on the same page as what he is trying to come across, even though through that essay too he gets distracted. This goes to show that the way Montaigne’s writing proves Wallace’s idea of so many ideas in such a little time to express them.

Jane Austen and Montaigne are great writers with the obvious difference that they wrote in two different time periods, which makes them slightly incomparable. The most comparable subject between the two is their writing style. While Montaigne has a general idea that can be lead and go in many directions, Austen has a central idea and builds the story around it. For example, Jane Austen has a couple themes set up in Pride and Prejudice such as family traditions and male roles while Montaigne has a million little different themes through out his book. But, both authors do share the old English diction in their writing which makes both stories more difficult to understand. Both writers try to approach and write about life themes, Austen in a more story like way while Montaigne writes it as his thoughts. Overall, both authors do achieve getting a point across in their writings whether it’s a fictional work of art or like a man writing in his journal.

In conclusion, Montaigne’s expressive way of writing is similar to a scattered brain person with a hint of actually having a purpose. Though as confusing and random his writings may seem, he brings up many great points that not many people today think of consciously. His uniqueness in writing makes him a one of a kind person and brings him out from the rest.