Examine
the development of the form of the essay with special reference to the essays
of Francis Bacon.
Francis Bacon is of great importance in the history of
English Essay. His essays have become the classic of English language. They owe
this position not due to their subject matter but for their unique style and
fine literary taste. Bacon can rightly be called the father of English essay.
As Hugh Walker says: "Bacon is the first
English essayist."
Bacon borrowed the general conception of his essays
from the French writer and philosopher Montaigne. It is said that if Montaigne
gave birth to essays in French, Bacon took the responsibility of maturing this
newborn baby in English. His essays "are the grains of salt which will
rather give an appetite than offend with society." The credit of being the
first English essayist goes to Bacon. He lived in a time and country where life
was full of vigour and seriousness. In comparison with Montaigne's thousands of
words, Bacon's essays consist of few words. According to Hudson: "His
essays are loaded with ripest wisdom of experience." Hudson also
says: "His essays
achieved popularity that his other works have not."
Though the concept of essay has been taken from
Montaigne, yet Bacon has very little in common with him. He takes the bottle
from Montaigne but fills it with the wine drawn from his own mind. Bacon has an
unrivalled ability of packing his thoughts in the shortest possible space.
In his essays, Bacon deals a variety of subjects and
he ignores no sphere of knowledge and experience. He deals with different
subjects as love, marriage and single life, death, adversity, parents and
children, garden, travel etc. They reveal that their author is strongly imbued
with Machiavellian philosophy and practical approach to man's general tendency.
