ABSTRACT
Michel de Montaigne's "De l'oisivete" gives a memorable description of anxiety, its turmoil and enigmatic self-estrangement. Writing – ordering, recording – may well reduce anxiety; however, Montaigne hopes to shame himself, rather than feel free of shame. The puzzling hope for shame shares something of the enigma in Montaigne's self-description in "De l'inconstance de nos actions" as eing "honteux insolent". The chapter explains how the enigmas mentioned may be connected in his writing, which is insolens in the sense of being beyond what is accustomed or acceptable, and shaming. It also argues that he writes against feel free of shame and concealment. That his writing is intermittently avowedly "confessional" only partly explains this. The chapter further traces Montaigne's movement towards a way of being in which shame and self-respect coincide productively with writing openly, from the first instance of his own shame in the Essais, then working through his other key avowals of it.
