Seminar No. 3.5.

Title: Shakespeare and Montaigne Revisited.

Leaders:

Tom Bishop (Case Western Reserve University, USA)
Peter Holbrook (University of Queensland, Australia)

Respondent:

Lars Engle (University of Tulsa, USA)

Participants:

Robert Bennett (Independent Scholar)
William Hamlin (Idaho State University)
John Lee (University of Bristol)
Kathleen Lynch (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Michael Mack (Catholic University of America)
Gail Price (Independent Scholar, USA)
Chris Roark (John Carroll University)
Judith Weil (University of Manitoba)
Herb Weil (University of Manitoba)
Paul Yachnin (University of British Columbia)

Abstract:

Any aspect of the relation between Shakespeare and Montaigne will be considered, and the Essais analysed not
merely as a Shakespearean source but as a potentially significant context for Shakespeare generally. In what ways
can Shakespeare be usefully compared with Montaigne, given that the Essais are products of cultured leisure while
the plays are residues of complex social negotiation? Themes for discussion may include: identity and subjectivity;
cultural difference and the early modern anthropological mind; scepticism, empiricism, naturalism; religious belief and unbelief; ethics; conceptualizations of 'philosophy'; the modernity of Shakespeare and Montaigne; Shakespeare's reading; the nature of a 'source'; the difficulties (and usefulness) of drawing connections between Shakespeare and 'thinkers'.