Shakespeare's Montaigne
The Florio Translation of the Essays, A Selection
1 of 1 copy available
Shakespeare, Nietzsche wrote, was Montaigne’s best reader—a typically brilliant Nietzschean insight, capturing the intimate relationship between Montaigne’s ever-changing record of the self and Shakespeare’s kaleidoscopic register of human character. And there is no doubt that Shakespeare read Montaigne—though how extensively remains a matter of debate—and that the translation he read him in was that of John Florio, a fascinating polymath, man-about-town, and dazzlingly inventive writer himself.
Florio’s Montaigne is in fact one of the masterpieces of English prose, with a stylistic range and felicity and passages of deep lingering music that make it comparable to Sir Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy and the works of Sir Thomas Browne. This new edition of this seminal work, edited by Stephen Greenblatt and Peter G. Platt, features an adroitly modernized text, an essay in which Greenblatt discusses both the resemblances and real tensions between Montaigne’s and Shakespeare’s visions of the world, and Platt’s introduction to the life and times of the extraordinary Florio. Altogether, this book provides a remarkable new experience of not just two but three great writers who ushered in the modern world.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
April 8, 2014 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781590177341
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781590177341
- File size: 2056 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
April 1, 2014
Despite its title, this is not a book about William Shakespeare. It is, rather, a reprint of the English-language edition of Montaigne's essays that was available during the Bard's lifetime--the deeply personal and philosophical essays by French author Montaigne (1533-92) were popular in England when they appeared in John Florio's 1603 version. While this is neither the most accurate translation of those works (subsequent ones have corrected Florio's errors and tried for a tone more representative of Montaigne's), nor the most accessible to today's readers, its editors Greenblatt (Cogan University Professor of English & American Literature & Language, Harvard Univ.; Will in the World) and Platt (English, Bard Coll.; Shakespeare and the Culture of Paradox) argue for its significance because of its influence on important English authors, most notably Shakespeare. Helpful introductory essays discuss the significance of Montaigne, his influence on the playwright, and the importance of Florio as both an author and translator. VERDICT Florio's prose can be a tough read for modern audiences. Recommended only for specialists who want to examine the influence of Montaigne on Shakespeare and other English writers. Readers can find more complete and approachable translations of Montaigne's essays in recent volumes published by Penguin Classics (1993) and Everyman's Library (2003).--Nicholas Graham, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-