| Authorship Notes |
The section on 'Duties of parents and children' (book 3, section 14) of Charron's 'De la sagesse' is the author's discussion of education. The section on travels is very strongly inspired by the thoughts of Montaigne. Charron effectively paraphrases several of Montaigne's quotes on travels, including them into his own work. He follows the same structure and same ideas that Montaigne expressed when he states that travel should be performed ‘not to feast one’s mind on frivolities as most do, but to bring home, above all, the ways and manners of these nations’.
In this re-ordering and re-wording exercice, it is noteworthy that Charron combines several sections of Montaigne's 'Essais'. He adapts most of the travel-related comments from Montaigne's essay on education ('De l'institution des enfants'), but also adds elements of other essays, most of all 'On Vanity'. In Montaigne's original, the two essays are different: the essay on education is normative, 'On Vanity' is introspective. In Charron's interpretation, the introspective elements of Montaigne's thoughts on travelling become part of the educational programme. |
