From the Self to the Reader: The Construction of the Subject in Montaigne

Abstract

This paper explores the constitution of the self in Montaigne’s Essays under the hypothesis that its unity structurally depends on an instance of otherness: the reader. Far from operating as a solipsistic exercise, Montaigne’s writing deploys a dialogical mechanism in which the reader functions as boundary, mirror, and counterpoint to the self under description. The identity that emerges arises from a constant interplay between self-reflection and the anticipated gaze of the other, whose virtual presence enables the ordering and stabilization of an identity otherwise marked by dispersion. The article thus argues that Montaigne’s self is inseparable from its relation to the reader, who serves as an indispensable agent in its unification.