Download or read book Montaigne & Melancholy written by Michael Andrew Screech and published by Bloomsbury Academic. This book was released on 2000 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Montaigne (1533-1592), the personification of philosophical calm, had to struggle to become the wise Renaissance humanist we know. His balanced temperament, sangiune and melancholic, promised genius but threatened madness. When he started his Essays, Montaigne was upset by an attack of melancholy humour: he became temperamental and unbalanced. Writing about himself restored the balance but broke an age-old taboo - happily so, for he discovered profound truths about himself and about our human condition. This book provides a literary companion to his Essays.