Montaigne and Shakspere

In Short

This study traces the profound intellectual impact of Michel de Montaigne’s Essays upon William Shakespeare. By examining parallel passages, shifts in vocabulary, and philosophical themes across the plays, John Mackinnon Robertson demonstrates that Shakespeare’s acquaintance with Florio’s 1603 English translation catalyzed a decisive leap in his artistic maturity. Moving beyond simple textual borrowings, the volume argues that Montaigne ignited Shakespeare’s deepest tragic reflections on mortality, human nature, and fate, permanently reshaping English literature.

The Story

John Mackinnon Robertson opens his investigation by surveying the state of Elizabethan textual criticism, observing that after decades of fierce debate over metrical tests and biographical theories, scholarly inquiry requires a fresh direction. He establishes that textual borrowing is a legitimate starting point, pointing directly to The Tempest, where Gonzalo’s vision of an ideal commonwealth explicitly transcribes Montaigne’s description of indigenous societies from the essay "Of Cannibals."

Establishing that Shakespeare possessed Florio's translation around 1603, Robertson broadens his scope to prove that this encounter was no isolated borrowing, but a transformative intellectual awakening. He meticulously collates phrases and motifs across the canon, demonstrating how key additions to the Second Quarto of Hamlet reflect Montaigne’s Apology of Raymond Sebonde. Robertson contrasts Hamlet’s soaring yet melancholic meditations on the cosmos and the "quintessence of dust" with Montaigne’s original prose, arguing that Shakespeare absorbed the essayist’s rhythm, vocabulary, and skepticism.

To prove the uniqueness of Montaigne’s influence, Robertson evaluates and dismisses alternative theories. He refutes claims that Shakespeare relied heavily on Giordano Bruno, classical Latin writers like Seneca and Catullus, or rival Elizabethan playwrights for his underlying philosophy. Robertson notes that while Shakespeare drew plot points from North's Plutarch and native chronicles, those sources offered historical pageantry rather than psychological depth. Comparing Shakespeare’s early, highly formal narrative poems—Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece—with his later masterpieces, Robertson shows how the dramatist shifted from calculated verbal fluency to deep, existential reflection.

The investigation then follows Montaigne’s footprint through Shakespeare's mature work. In Measure for Measure, the Duke’s address to Claudio regarding death mirrors Montaigne’s secular, un-Christianized stoicism. In King Lear and Macbeth, the playwright echoes the essayist's doubts about human reason and society. Finally, in The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, Shakespeare moves beyond mere imitation to engage in a philosophical dialogue with his predecessor. Where Montaigne pits primitive nature against human artifice, Shakespeare responds through Polixenes, arguing that the art which alters nature is itself created by nature. Robertson concludes that Montaigne served as the vital spark that liberated Shakespeare's genius, elevating him from a master craftsman into the supreme poet of human nature.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Robertson introduces the prevailing trends in Shakespearean scholarship, noting a lull in metrical and biographical debates. He sets out to trace a deeper history of ideas by examining culture-contacts and literary influences upon the dramatist.

The direct transcription The author provides undeniable evidence of contact by comparing Gonzalo’s utopian speech in The Tempest directly with Florio's translation of Montaigne's essay on cannibals. This establishes a baseline of direct, unquestionable textual borrowing.

The tragic awakening Shifting to Hamlet, Robertson reveals a sudden influx of Montaigne’s phrases and philosophical doubts introduced in the Second Quarto. He argues that reading the Essays around 1603-1604 kindled Shakespeare's poetic style and deepened his psychological insight.

Sifting the alternatives Robertson methodically examines rival theories of influence, dismissing assertions that Giordano Bruno or classical Latin poets directly supplied Shakespeare's worldview. He proves that while English translations and native sources provided plots, none matched Montaigne’s philosophical weight.

Engaging the essayist The study tracks Montaigne's continuing presence in Measure for Measure, King Lear, and The Winter's Tale. Robertson illustrates how Shakespeare moved from absorbing ideas to actively debating Montaigne's views on nature, art, and the human condition.

The People

William Shakespeare The supreme English dramatist, who begins his career producing fluent, market-driven narrative poems and chronicle plays. Upon reading Florio's translation of Montaigne in middle age, his mind absorbs the essayist's skepticism, causing his style to evolve into the profound, complex tragic verse of his late period.

Michel de Montaigne The great French essayist whose candid, wandering inquiries into human nature, custom, and mortality offered a fresh worldview to Europe. His writings act as an intellectual catalyst, sparking deep self-reflection and philosophical nuance in the minds of those who read him.

John Florio The Elizabeth translator whose 1603 English rendering of Montaigne's Essays made the French writer's expansive thought and vivid prose accessible to Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

Hamlet The iconic prince who serves as the primary vessel for Montaigne's influence, channeling the essayist's doubts about reason, the cosmos, and the post-mortem fate of the soul into haunting soliloquia.

In Its Own Voice

"The process is one not of surface reflection, but of kindling by contact; and we seem to see even the vibration of the style passing from one intelligence to the other..."

Robertson describes how Montaigne's prose stimulated Shakespeare's style rather than causing mere passive copying.

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will."

The author cites Hamlet's famous lines as a key example of how Shakespeare gave vivid, poetic expression to Montaigne's classic stoic ideas.

"Yet nature is made better by no mean, / But nature makes that mean..."

Robertson highlights King Polixenes' words from The Winter's Tale to demonstrate Shakespeare actively refining and advancing Montaigne's philosophy on art and nature.

What It's Really About

Montaigne and Shakspere explores how intellectual influence actually operates between great minds. Rather than treating Shakespeare as an isolated genius who generated ideas out of nothing, or as a mere plagiarist copying lines from older texts, John Mackinnon Robertson demonstrates that artistic growth relies on deep culture-contact. The book argues that reading Montaigne provided Shakespeare with a vocabulary for doubt, helping him break free from traditional theatrical formulas. Underneath the textual comparisons lies a broader investigation into how human consciousness evolves when exposed to radical new ways of thinking, showing that genius is not immune to influence, but uniquely capable of assimilating it.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the mechanics of literary creation, textual detective work, and the history of the Renaissance will find Robertson's study deeply satisfying. Written with scholarly rigor and straightforward, unpretentious prose, the book offers a refreshing contrast to modern jargon-heavy criticism. Robertson guides the reader through complex textual comparisons with remarkable clarity, writing like an attentive editor laying out evidence for an intelligent jury.

The book does require a reader comfortable with late Victorian scholarship. Robertson assumes a familiarity with Shakespeare's plays, expects basic comfort with untranslated Latin quotes from Seneca and Catullus, and occasionally pauses to settle forgotten academic disputes with long-dead German critics. Yet these period quirks do not detract from the core experience. What remains is a compelling, highly readable account of a historic meeting of minds—a book that permanently alters how one reads Hamlet, Measure for Measure, and The Tempest.