Montaigne and Shakespeare: The Rise of the Individual

Modernity continues to emerge with the writings of Montaigne and Shakespeare. On today’s episode, Rabbi Rocklin will help us address the following questions:

1. Why did Montaigne love history as a tool to understand the human character?
2. How does Montaigne’s approach to education diverge from his contemporaries’ such that we might recognize his approach in today’s world of education?
3. What sets Shakespeare’s plays apart from his contemporaries’ and makes his works relevant throughout the centuries?

Recommended Reading: Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life. New York: Harper Perennial, 2001.