Montaigne'sViewoftheAgeofFathersanditsImpactonFamilies

HC231H:SourcesoftheSelf
ProfessorVeraKeller

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11/23/2014

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Montaigne devotes one section of his essays to the subject "On the affection of fathers for
their children" and discusses how fathers, and mothers, actions and comments can shape
their children. Montaigne spends a good portion of this essay focusing on the age,
especially older, of fathers and how that can affect how they behave and treat their
children. He uses stories of men he's met and the ideas of the greats to explain how
detrimental these older fathers can be to their household. By using describing the
negative affect that older fathers have on children and their families, Montaigne is able to
convince the reader that his views on parenting are ideal.
It is clear the Montaigne believes that there is a correct age range for raising
children, as he says, "I was thirty-three when I married; and I approve of the thirty-five the opinion attributed to Aristotle. Plato does not want any man to marry before thirty; he
is also right to laugh at spouses who lie together after fifty-five, judging their offspring
unworthy to live and eat.1" Montaigne uses support that even the greats, such as Aristotle
and Plato, believed that the best time for a man to have children was between the ages of
thirty and fifty, and Montaigne himself happen to be in that age range. By having his
ideas that could be justified by these famous men, Montaigne is able to convince the
reader that he was the ideal age to get married and have children.
To further show that older fathers weren't ideal for families, Montaigne discusses
men who won't step down from their role as head of the house after reaching a certain
age."But a father who is brought low by age and illness, whose weakness and ill-health
deprive him of ordinary human fellowship, does wrong to himself and to his family if he
broods over a great pile of riches.2" Here Montaigne ties age with illness and weakness
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2

Michel De Montaigne, The Essays: A Selection (London: Penguin Books, 1993), 154
Montaigne, The Essays, 155

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implying that people will inevitably reach a point in which they are no longer capable to
perform their duties. He believes that older men should accept that they should let the
next generation take care of the finances.
Montaigne also discusses how once men reach an age in which they are sick and
feeble, they hold their money over their family so that they will take care of and love
them. "A father is wretched indeed if he can only hold the love of his children - if you can
call it love - by making them depend on his help3" The same men who won't relinquish
their position continue to try to maintain power by buying the attention of their family.
By being unable to accept their age and continue to cling to the idea of power, Montaigne
shows that these older men aren't truly loved by their families.
Having spent much time on how older men can be burdens to their children,
Montaigne describes ideally how he would treat his family. "I am old enough to have to
play that role now, and would leave the young the use of my house and property but be
free to withdraw my consent if they gave me cause. . . To do this I would not avoid their
company; I would like to be near so as to watch them and to enjoy their fun and
festivities as much as my age permitted.4" Here Montaigne explains that he could give his
children his home, but still have some corner to himself while they ran the household. He
also leaves room for fathers to have power by saying that he could withdraw his consent
if needed. By discussing how fathers who don't do this poorly effect their families,
Montaigne is able to show how his ideas are best.

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4

Montaigne, The Essays, 152

Montaigne, The Essays, 156

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Frequently in Montaigne's essays he tries to convince the reader that his ideas are
best, while trying to maintain subtlety. This essay showed how Montaigne was able to
better his ideas of age and fatherhood by explaining the negative aspects of fathers who
weren't his age and how even the greats agreed with him. By using these tactics,
Montaigne was better able to show how his views on parenting were superior to those of
others.

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Bibliography

Montaigne, Michel De, and M. A. Screech. The Essays: A Selection. (London: Penguin
Books, 1993), 152-156.

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PaperbyLeahThompson