Many different opinions, beliefs, and patterns of thought emerged during the Renaissance. One pattern that established itself firmly was the importance of individuality. Previously, in the medieval period, the focus of religion and literature was community and the experience of the community or group as a whole. During the Renaissance, and throughout Christian humanism, the rise of the individual and the focus on individual experience became prominent. Two examples of this are Michel de Montaigne’s Essays and Teresa of Ávila’s autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus.
Montaigne's Essays – A New Form of Literature
Michel de Montaigne’s essays were the first of their kind. Before Montaigne’s writings the term “essay” did not exist. The word "essay" comes from the french verb, essayer, meaning “to try.” Montaigne tried to explain the world and society by using his own individual knowledge and personal experience.
Essays are short works, each focused on a specific topic. Essays can then be gathered together and arranged into one larger work as Montaigne's were. Although essays frequently appear grouped together, an essay must be able to be read and understood independently of other works and essays.
Teresa of Ávila's Autobiography – The Life of an Individual
In her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, Teresa of Ávila is attempting a similar task as Montaigne however she utilizes a different form. Her autobiography is organized more or less chronologically in chapters although there are portions of her work that are interspersed with asides and expansions of ideas.
Religious autobiographies were not a new invention of Renaissance literature. Several religious autobiographies had existed prior to the Renaissance: St. Augustine's Confessions, Guibert of Nogent's Memoirs, and The Book of Margery Kempe. Despite their existence prior to the Renaissance, these autobiographies would not have been widely circulated until the advent of the printing press.
The Rise of the Individual
Teresa is doing the same thing as Montaigne in her work, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. She is writing a work about her own experience that can be used to instruct, teach, and influence others. A major difference between the two writers, aside from the obvious gender difference, is that Teresa is writing at the request of others to help provide an example of how to live, pray, and exist with God. Montaigne wrote of his own volition, believing himself to be well-read and intelligent.
While Montaigne cites many Greek and Latin works throughout his essays and discusses the glories of his own educational experience, Teresa does quite the opposite. She repeatedly insists that she is not smart enough and that she is not educated enough to be writing her autobiography. However Teresa does give ample evidence of her literacy, for example: “During this first year I had been reading good books” (19) and, “I believe, unless I had a new book, I was never happy” (6). She also speaks of reading aloud to her uncle (13).
Teresa's devotion to reading was no secret (except perhaps when it came to her father who viewed the chivalric romances she enjoyed reading as a young girl to be a “useless occupation” (6)), yet she takes great length to devalue her obvious intelligence. Throughout her autobiography she second-guesses herself, denying herself the self-confidence which Montaigne found through his writings. Despite this constant routine of devaluing, she still makes it explicitly clear that she is writing directly about her experiences because she uses phrases such as “This I know by experience” (16).
The Personal Pronoun – "I"
Both Teresa and Montaigne make frequent use of the personal pronoun “I” though for different purposes. Montaigne uses his own experience and education as an example for others, especially in his essay “On the Education of Children” while Teresa’s work focuses on her spirituality and relationship with God.
Teresa’s writings are for the education and betterment of a specific audience, those considering the holy life and those already committed to a holy way of life, specifically those in convents. Montaigne’s works seem to be addressed to a more general and varied audience, as seen by the wide variety of topics on which he wrote, or essayed.
The Religious Vs. the Secular in Renaissance Literature
Teresa’s Life of Teresa of Jesus is clearly very religious, as was the life she actually lived, which contrasts sharply with Montaigne’s Essays and their focus on the classics and secular experiences. Teresa’s work is religious as can be seen, not only by her name, Teresa of Ávila or Teresa of Jesus, but also by her frequent punctuation of phrases like “May He be blessed for ever. Amen” (17) which appears throughout her writing.
The Value of Personal Experience
Despite the fact that Teresa of Ávila and Michel de Montaigne wrote from different viewpoints about different experiences, they are both characteristic of the Renaissance and the rise of the individual, because they both focus on knowledge as being granted through personal experience, whether it be through religion and the divine or through secular education and social experience.
Sources
Teresa of Ávila. The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of Ávila. Translated by E. Allison Peers (Image: 1991). Paperback edition, 464 pages.
Montaigne, Michel de. The Complete Essays of Montaigne. Translated by Donald Frame (Stanford University Press, 1958). Paperback edition, 908 pages.
Tracey Carter - Tracey holds a B.A. in English from Hood College and is an avid reader, educator, blogger, and aspiring librarian.
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