AUSTEN/ MONTAIGNE ESSAY

As David Foster Wallace puts it, “ What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant.” Montaigne’s collection of essays, with both ranging topics and passage lengths, fully supports Foster’s notion of unconnected and uninterrupted thoughts, though Austen’s style in Pride and Prejudice contradicts it completely. Montaigne’s style almost provides a clear window into his mind, while Austen’s style is completely clear-cut, even in the more emotional parts of the novel. Though through their different styles, Montaigne and Austen show two different ways to write a memorable piece of literature.

            One thing that you will walk away from Montaigne’s essays with is an impression of his distinct style of writing; a style that includes frequent off-topic rambling on various anecdotes before returning to the topic which is at hand. Montaigne seems to be aware of his inability to concentrate on one topic, even occasionally making a quick apology before returning to his original topic. Another element of Montaigne’s writing is his wide-spread topics, ranging from thumbs to liars, to even war horses and coaches. Every aspect of Montaigne is parallel to the views of Wallace; the mind is not something that can be contained and organized, instead it is an unstoppable force that rarely has an idle moment.

            Contradictory to this idea, is the style of writing that Austen embodies, an almost detached sense of approach where her words are calculated and structured in according to their use. Almost never in an Austen novel will you see a character without the appropriate answer, or even with a small grammatical error. This approach to writing is almost what seems like a final copy of work, while Montaigne’s writing would be the first rough draft. What is missing the most from Austen’s literature is a sense of strong emotion; even in the most climatic scene of the book Mr. Darcy keeps complete control of his language, declaring “ I love you most ardently” to Elizabeth.

            Though Austen and Montaigne don’t agree in writing style, they both have successful literature pieces that are remembered to this day, when our style of writing has been completely reinvented many times over since their time. Montaigne supports the idea of interconnected thoughts that do not come to an end, and writing down these ideas as they pass through him, while Austen has a more organized style. Though polar opposites, both styles though give an idea that the human mind never ceases to create and invent as it goes along.