On Montaigne's View of Divorce: The Father of the French Renaissance

Abstract

The father of the French Renaissance in the 16th century is famous for his representative work "Les Essais", and subsequently European and American scholars have conducted solid and specific studies on many topics. Why does Montaigne's view of divorce deserve attention? As we all know, one of the important themes of the 16th century literary reflection is "divorce", and it is the consensus of thinkers to pay attention to the problem of divorce. In French literature, marriage was a topic that the creators could not avoid. The novels of the aristocratic salons and the novels of the citizens are full of discussions on the issue of marriage. However, the trend of reflecting on divorce in the 16th century was first initiated by Montaigne, who devoted a considerable part of his “Les Essais”to his views on marriage and especially to his attack on the prohibition of divorce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the connotation and characteristics of Montaigne's view on divorce and the reasons for its creation. And also understand the unique features of Montaigne's view on divorce and to deepen the knowledge of "individualism" and "humanist morality" in Montaigne's thought on this basis.