Ground-breaking essays comparing Shakespeare and Montaigne Introduces and explores a wide range of fresh approaches to comparative study of Shakespeare and Montaigne Illuminates connections, parallels, and discontinuities between the artistry of Shakespeare's plays and the complexity of Montaigne's thought Considers Shakespeare and Montaigne within the intellectual history of the Renaissance and the Reformation Reflects on Shakespeare and Montaigne as thinkers and innovators speaking to the present day, as well as their own more immediate historical moment Examines arguments for and against Shakespeare and Montaigne as forerunners of modernity Shakespeare and Montaigne share a grounded, genial sense of the lived reality of human experience, as well as a surprising depth of engagement with history, literature and philosophy. With celebrated subtlety and incisive humour, both authors investigate abiding questions of epistemology, psychology, theology, ethics, politics and aesthetics. In this collection, distinguished contributors consider these influential, much-beloved figures in light of each other. The English playwright and the French essayist, each in his own fashion, reflect on and evaluate the Renaissance, the Reformation and the rise of new modern perspectives many of us now might readily recognise as our own.