“A dispensation so maliciously ordered” On four “cruel tales” in “Couardise mère de cruauté” (Chapter II, 27 of the Essais)

The rewriting of historical narratives offered Montaigne the opportunity to reflect on the reader’s place in relation to representation. Through the study of four “atrocious” stories added after 1588 by Montaigne to the end of the chapter “Couardise mère de cruauté” (Cowardice, the Mother of Cruelty), this article analyzes Montaigne’s narrative reconfigurations and shows how these modifications affect the reader’s reception of the text, by placing him or her at the perspective center of the represented ordeals.