Introduction
Of Studies is the first essay by Sir Francis Bacon in a series of ten essays published in 1597. Later, it was revised in 1612 with the addition of some more sentences and ideas in it along with the alteration in some vocabulary terms. This essay is regarded as Bacon’s masterpiece enriched with stylised Latin vocabulary, fresh and new ideas, logical and relevant themes and wisdom of the world. For these reasons, the essay is still popular among individuals of all ages. Adopting a didactic approach, the essay informs the readers about the benefits and uses of studies in one’s life.
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| Of Studies Summary & Analysis |
Summary - I
Highlighting the importance of studies, the essay illustrates the role of studies in an individual’s daily life. For the writer, the study is always related to the application of knowledge in practical life. At the beginning of the essay, The writer describes the three main purposes of study including studying for gaining delight, studies done for ornamenting one’s life and studying in order to improve one’s ability.
The author is the notion that only learned and well-read men can execute plans effectively, manage their daily affairs with expertise and lead a healthy and stable life. He further states that reading makes a full man; conference leads to a ready man while writing makes an exact man. While throwing light on the advantages and usefulness of studies, Bacon also puts forward some demerits of study as he thinks that studying for a prolonged period of time may lead to laziness. He also condemns the act of studying from books solely without learning from nature around. The essay Of Studies further asserts the benefits of studies by considering this act as a medicine for the defects of the human mind and the source of enhancing one’s wit.
While discussing the importance of studying in an individual’s life, the essayist informs his readers about the benefits of reading good books. For Bacon, some books are only meant to be tasted; others are there to swallow while some books are meant for chewing and digesting properly. Therefore, readers must choose wisely before studying any book to enhance/her knowledge about the world around them. Bacon concludes his essay by suggesting that studies assist an individual in removing the defects of his/her mind as every problem of the human mind carries special importance for the individual and the world.
Summary - II
The summary of the essay deals with some of the major uses of study and offers some sound ideas relating to this theme in the essay. The pleasure of study can best be enjoyed by a man leading a life of aloofness and retirement. The ornamental value of the study lies in enabling a man to become a good talker. He who spends too much time in studies is temporarily lazy. He who makes too much use of reading for purposes of conversation is trying to make a vain display of his learning. If a man’s judgment is governed wholly by rules, he has learned from books, it shows his eccentricity.
Studies make one develop one’s abilities with ease Studies by themselves provide guidance, but without practical experience this is abstract. Men who are cunning, do not approve of their studies, but those who are simple, feel admiration for studies. Men who are basically wise, make use of studies for their progress. One should not read books only to contradict others. All things written in books should not be followed in life. One should ponder over what he read and how he uses it.
Some books are to be read in parts only. Some may be read quickly and hastily. There are only a small number of books that are worth close and detailed study. In the case of some books, a man may engage somebody else to read them and then tell him what they contain and also give him extracts from them. But this method should be adopted in the case of the meaner sort of books only. No man can be satisfied with a mere summary or synopsis of a good book.
Reading develops the whole personality of a man. Conversation makes a man witty. Different kinds of books have different effects upon the reader. History man a man wise, Poetry makes a man imaginative, Mathematics develops subtlety in a man, Natural science enables a man to look, deep into the things, Logic and art of public speaking develop a person’s communicative skills.
Various capabilities are developed by effective and useful reading. If a man’s mind wanders too much, he should be made to study Mathematics to develop concentration; if a man is unable to make distinctions amongst things, he should study the literature produced in the Middle Ages.
Studies are a cure for mental deficiency. Just as bowling is good for kidneys, shooting for the lungs, walking for digestion and riding for the head, so also mathematics is good for wandering wits. Every defect of a man’s mind can be cured through studies.
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Analysis
This essay deals with different kinds of books and their effect on the reader. The uses of studies are classified by Bacon under three heads – the use of studies for delight; the use of studies for ornament and the use of studies for ability. Bacon also gives us some excellent advice as to why or how one should read. He tells us that different studies have varied effects on the human mind.
Various mental defects can be remedied by various kinds of studies. The need for experience to supplement and perfect studies has duly been emphasized in the essay. Bacon would not be satisfied with more bookish knowledge. The wisdom won by experience is as necessary as the wisdom gained from books. But it is not only the ideas that are so important in this essay. We find Bacon displaying his talent for using the maximum economy of words in order to express his ideas. The essay is a masterpiece of brevity and terseness. Some of his sentences read like proverbs.
Bacon’s essays abound in very appropriate and original similes. We have one such simile here when Bacon says that “distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things”. We could say, without any exaggeration, that it is one of the finest essays in English prose. It gives us a number of sound maxims and a number of sentences that we can use as quotations when occasion demands. Some of the sentences, indeed, cling to our memory without any mental effort on our part to memorise them. This is one of the best-known essays from the pen of Bacon.
Theme
The Elizabethan Age is the most creative period in English Literature. The foreign wars were over and the Englishmen had for the first time the leisure to devote their energies to interests other than war upon their neighbours.
Fortunately, just at this time, the great wave of the Renaissance, the new birth of letters, having spent itself in Italy and crossing over France and Spain reached the shores of England.
With Francis Bacon begins philosophical reflections upon life, in the style of Plutarch’s “Morals” and the “Essays” of Montaigne. Bacon’s mind was catholic in its range, but the subjects of moral thought that interest him are comparatively few and generalized.
The method used by Bacon is to reduce reflection to the lowest terms to try to discover the fundamental principles of conduct, the influence and the actions of men. His essays reflects his experiences of learning. His observations do not clear his likes or dislikes. They are austere, brief to the point of crudeness.
In the essay Of Studies, a life-long student, Bacon describes his craft. He was no plodder upon books though he read much and that with great judgment. The subject of this essay was the one that revolved longest in the edition of his “Essays”.
Structure
One peculiarity of this essay that deserves notice is the frequency with which Bacon repeats himself. Thus essay has each sentence carefully selected and strung together, Bacon has gems of thought and language, but he does not scatter them about with uncalculating profusion of a Shakespeare, non ‘like wealthy men who care not how they give, but rather like those who are spending their story with care’.
Bacon is not an optimist. He has no sentiment to lead the reader astray. He writes with brevity and compactness. To the careless reader, much of what he has written will seem commonplace enough. But to the serious reader, his thoughts are universal. The sentences are compact and simple.
Style
The passage is compressed, bold, full of condensed thought and utterly devoid of ornamentation. The sentences run smooth. Force and precision are its main characteristics. The sustained passage has easy eloquence, and sentences here and there are of singular and unaffected beauty and not thrust in but flowing continuously with the rest. Bacon writes with an air of modesty. His passages bear the mark of grand and confident self-esteem sometimes directly assertive, sometimes condescending, sometimes scornful, sometimes disguised under a transparent affectation of modesty.
There is one special characteristic of Bacon’s manner which does not admit of being illustrated except at a prohibitive length, his long magnificent roll of sentence after sentence. Each falling into its place, each adding new weight to what has gone before it, and all together uniting to complete the entire effect.
His style has simplicity, strength, brevity, clearness and precision. Simplicity cannot be said to be a character in its strict sense, of his style. His passage is simple in the sense of being free from all affection, free from any studied elegance in the choice of words and in the structure of sentences. He avoids with equal care both pedantry and vulgarity, though he has no scruple in using homely illustrations, where such illustrations would be more telling.
Conclusion
The essay Of Studies deals with the benefits of studies for individuals in their daily lives. From reading books to writing papers, study plays a vital role in a man’s life making him learn, witty and experienced. The essay by Bacon is enriched with intellectual wisdom, a pragmatic approach and practical knowledge; therefore, it is considered to be the most beneficial essay for the students and young individuals. Although the essay is devoid of any emotions and colourful expressions, it is; nevertheless, a wonderful effort of teaching the readers about the importance of studying
More Reading...
Of Studies by Sir Francis Bacon, written in 1597 and enlarged in 1625, is an essay written in didactic style– it is intended to inform, or teach a lesson. Here, Bacon discusses the importance of studies, highlighting three main reasons to convince his readers of its necessity. In the end, we are told that merely studying a subject isn’t enough. What’s needed to perfect one’s study is the exercise and practice of the studied subject matter. On the whole, Of Studies is an engaging read from “ The Father of English Essays”.
Of Studies | Summary
Bacon begins the essay by listing the three central reasons that studies are important for delight, ornament, and ability. He says that a man can deal with his problems one at a time based on experience, but it is only informed men who can give counsel according to any situation, whether or not they have directly trained in it. In the next paragraph, he hastens to add that too much of anything is not good- and that includes studies. Spending an excessive amount of time on it will make one a sloth while displaying too much in conversation will make one seem affected. And living life solely based on book-learned knowledge is plainly foolish. One has in-born natural talents which are honed by studying and embellished by experiences.
Naturally clever men view studies with contempt, those with average wits admire it, and wise men learn from it. Because studies do not teach how one should use the information- it simply provides it, it is up to the person’s wisdom to utilise it well. One should not study with the intention of contradicting or disproving others, nor should they entirely believe and rely upon everything they read- books should be read to understand and apply, to weigh and consider.
Bacon then says that some books are meant to be read in snippets, as only a few parts are necessary. Others are meant to be ‘swallowed’ as they are important in their entirety. And some are meant to be analyzed and understood thoroughly, as they present principal information. Some books may be made up of excerpts from other books- but only excerpts of less important arguments may be read in this fashion. Removing key points from a book and reading it out of context is as good as not reading it at all.
Together, it is reading, writing, and discussion that makes a man truly wise. If he only has little of one of these elements, then he must have an overflowing abundance of the other. There are different academic subjects that provide different aspects of intelligence to a person– history for wisdom, poetry for wit, morals for gravity, philosophy for depth. And it is the presence of one that aids the improvement of the other. Bacon then makes a connection between intellectual improvement and physical improvement. Like how bowling is good for the stone and reins, and shooting for the lung and breast and so forth- which each sport aids a different part of the body- each subject aids a different part of their intellectual capacity. If a man wants to learn to focus, let him study mathematics. If his wit is not up to par, let him study Schoolmen. If he is not up to par in his reasoning and analytical strength, let him study law. Every intellectual capability which one’s mind lacks has an apt solution in the form of a subject of study.
Of Studies | Analysis
Sir Francis Bacon employs an informative, lesson-oriented structure in his essay. The vocabulary and context are fit to the late 1500s and early 1600s, as we can see by several references such as the reference to shooting and riding, which was especially popular at that time, and the use of a Latin phrase in the piece. The theme of the essay is the intelligent application of studies, rather than merely the concept of studying. Sir Bacon emphasizes the importance of knowing how to use what one has learned.
In order to convey the importance of studying in a more efficient manner, he created three main reasons– to read for enjoyment, to read for merit, and to read for knowledge. However, it is interesting to note that he also inserts bits of advice, suggestions, and explanations which elaborate his statements. Such an essay is termed ‘didactic’, as it is written with the intention of conveying a lesson or a point.
He points out in the first paragraph the difference between experts and learned men. Here, he draws a comparison between experience and book-based knowledge. Experience can make one an expert only in that particular subject matter, while reading can be done on several different topics- this may be likened to the modern, ongoing debate of ‘book-smart versus street smart’. Rather than choosing one, Sir Bacon underlines the importance of having both. A point to note is that despite advocating for the importance of studies, it is stressed that an excess of anything is harmful:
“To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar.”
This is a cleverly strung sentence, drawing a firm boundary between necessity and imprudence. It also places weight on the significance of balance.
He also proceeds to reiterate the link between studied knowledge and experiential knowledge, saying that one embellishes the other. We may understand from this, as well as his emphasis on using what the book teaches, that his idea of studying gives value to the ability to apply it in the real world. He regards studying as a tool, something one should be able to connect to real-world scenarios and consequently use. The following sentence gives an insight to how a person may observe studying based on their natural intellectual capacity:
“Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.”
Studies are scorned by the shrewd, admired by the simple, and observed by the wise.
Sir Bacon follows this with another aspect of studying a subject: intention. It must be acknowledged that one’s reason for performing a certain task plays a great role in how well it is accomplished. Consider the line below:
“Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.”
One will not receive the same amount of knowledge if their intention is simply to disprove others. This may be because it is not a genuine desire to learn for oneself, but out of pure ambition, and therefore the motivation can disappear quickly. Similarly, Bacon also warns readers against naivety and quick relaxation. Believing everything immediately is equally as dangerous as learning without sincerity. The advice to “weigh and consider” once more links back to Sir Bacon’s accentuation of application. One must understand what they study, when and how to use it, and the reason behind it. They must consider which information is valid for a given situation. It is only with this ability to think critically and use their book-learned information that they can say they are truly learned.
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Sir Bacon also discusses how to study- sometimes it is better to read mere chapters of the books, while certain other books are meant to be thoroughly inspected. This may be symbolic of ‘smart learning’ over ‘rote learning’ in more contemporary language. It is important to know how to make use of one’s time and energy, that is the only way not to waste effort on unnecessary information. He likens books that contain collections of important excerpts without context to “common distilled waters, flashy things.” because it is a plateau. There is no further learning that can be done from such books because we can only learn many things superficially, rather than one thing deeply. Not having context prevents us from understanding the true meaning behind the argument.
Another theme of Sir Bacon’s essay is balance. Multiple times, he mentions the importance of being well-versed in more than one area. We may compare this to his earlier lesson of “too much of anything will cause harm.” Having too much of one strength and none of the other will cause an imbalance of the mind- for example, the ability to memorize quickly, but the inability to focus does not lead to a learned man. Bacon’s vision of an ideal learned man is one who can study, write and discuss.
As this is a didactic essay, Sir Bacon ends it in a rather prescriptive manner- he tells the readers of the importance of different academic subjects, and how they may improve one’s skill and temperament. This advice is put forth in the form of information, with the idea of inspiring curiosity and willpower. He says :
“Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.”
He goes on to elaborate that each subject can be seen as a ‘remedy’ to a lack of ability. For example, if one suffers a lack of wit, the remedy is learning poetry. In order to make the explanation more relatable to his readers, he brings in the example of physical sports:
“Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like.”
This is in a similar format of listing which physical activities will heal and help which parts of the body.
Bacon’s main point in his essay Of Studies is that there is a subject for every aspect of intellectual temperament, and becoming well versed in it will confirm personal growth and improvement. He ends the essay with “So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.” However, as he makes clear throughout the essay, it is crucial to maintain a balance. Too much is harmful, too little is purposeless. Too much of one and not enough of the other will work in contradiction. The intent is key, and most importantly, the experience and application of what one has read are what truly proves if they have understood their lesson.
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