mlet and Montaigne.
However, just as Hamlet's self-doubts and thoughts flow from the death of his beloved father, in whom one is safe to assume Hamlet found a trusted and accepting confidante, so do Montaigne's essays flow from the death of a close friend "to whom he had been able to express, as he never could to any one person again, his every thought, view, and feeling" (Montaigne v). The obvious conclusion is that while such tremendous losses bring self-doubt and thoughts of death, they also create a crucible whereby the suffering individual expresses himself in extraordinary ways.
In "Of Idleness," Montaigne writes of the confusion which comes to human minds "unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them." If one does not provide the mind with such a subject, "they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination." Montaigne imagines the pleasure of allowing the mind complete freedom, "But I find 'ever idle hours breed wandering thoughts.'" The mind
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