Next, Erasmus goes on to condemn monks, who he deems are not “interested in being like Christ but being unlike each other” (167), a folly which leads to the formation of different groups such as the Jacobites, the Williamists, the Benedictines, and many more. He feels that Christians should simply be concerned with making the life of Christ their example, and that the separation of Christians caused the focus to be shifted off of Christ and onto petty matters. Erasmus asserts the notion that most monks were forever self-glorifying, and their thirst for power was a shadow cast over many aspects of their lives.
Nearing the close of the book, Erasmus delivers yet another heavy blow with his analysis of the Church’s authority. He accuses the Supreme Pontiff of being power hungry and greedy, for “if…they [meant to] take the place of apostles who were poor men…they should either renounce their ambitions for the office they [held] and resign without further regrets” (178). In comparison to the life of purity and piety they should be living, the Church had “wealth and honours…sovereignty and triumphs…taxes and indulgences” (179), all of which would ideally be replaced with the reading of Scriptures, with prayers, and with sermons. In general, Erasmus strongly disapproved of the excesses of the Church, which were brought attention of the public with the Praise of Folly.
The messages conveyed by Erasmus are so effective because of the structure and style in which he writes his book. Praise of Folly begins with Folly cheerfully speaking to her audience as if they were sitting in front of her. She delivers “a speech which is extempore and quite unprepared” (66), allowing readers to feel that the words are being spoken spontaneously. As soon as her audience sees her as carefree, light-hearted, and of course, foolish, Erasmus can begin to assert his various notions about humankind, all the while hiding behind the defense that it is Folly, not he, who is at times blasphemous in her commentary.
Apart from setting the tone, the author also uses multiple sections to categorize his ideas. The first part introduces Folly; the second speaks about her power and influence. The third section, that regarding Folly’s many followers, demonstrates a noticeable change in Folly’s voice and attitude. Early in the novel, Folly jokes about Pan’s “hopeless efforts at singing” (85), but in the later half of the book, she maliciously criticizes old women who “can scarcely carry their weight of years [but] still go around…searing their faces with make-up…and exposing their sagging, withered breasts” (109). The seriousness of Folly’s tone prepares the readers for the last section, which contains Folly’s brutally honest views on the Christian fool.
Erasmus refers to specific examples to discredit the Roman Church, skillfully using satire to make his points in an entertaining fashion. For instance, Erasmus uses satire to end the book optimistically, even after he berates the clergy. He calls Christians the biggest fools of all for “they ignore insults… make no distinction between friends and enemies… sustain themselves on vigils, toil, humiliations” (201), and all the while they direct all of their endeavours toward God. Using this paradoxical twist, Erasmus praises true Christians as generous, good, and strong-willed in their faith.
The myriad of ideas in Praise of Folly work together to convey the mindset of the Renaissance. One of the most noticeable things about the book is its constant references to the great thinkers of the ancient world. This is a very distinguishable characteristic of the Renaissance, humanism, which encouraged development of education and culture through the learning and application of Classical models. Even Erasmus feels that “rhetoricians of [the] day…fancy themselves practically gods on earth if they can … work together a few Greek works into their Latin speeches, however out of place [they] are” (69). Attention to Classical scholars is evident in this work, of which a single page can contain references of more than five authors or philosophers of ancient Greece.
The importance of education is also a recurring idea in the novel, in particular when Erasmus sarcastically states that those who are “the happiest in life are those which have least to do with…probing the secrets of nature, measuring the stars, calculating their movement and influence, and seeking the hidden causes of the universe” (113). During the Middle Ages, the clergy was educated, but the peasants and middle-class were not at all concerned with learning. Contrary to this, the Renaissance was a time when receiving a good education was important. Erasmus in particular felt that men and women should strive to acquire knowledge, and he also recognized that the lower class should also be able to read the word of God just as well as the upper class. This kind of emphasis on the importance of education can be seen as the pursuit of excellence, which was also a trait of the Renaissance era.
Apart from its emphasis on education, Praise of Folly is significant for its questioning of the Catholic Church. Starting from the very first page, Folly seeks to make her readers question their ideas, their actions, and their faith. She targets the corruption of the church officials and the misinterpretations of both religious texts and practices. Her questions regarding the church foreshadow its decline as well as the outpour of religious ideas during the Reformation. This analysis of the church acted as a precursor to Martin Luther’s ideas, which took Europe by storm years after the book was written.
Today, centuries after its publication, Praise of Folly is recognized not necessarily as a literary masterpiece, but as a remarkable analysis of the many ideas born during the Renaissance. The multiple topics in the book reflect the growing influence of humanism, religious questioning, and pursuit of excellence. Erasmus’s radical ideas and harsh criticism of the Church resounded with many individuals, and it is often said that, in terms of the Reformation, he laid the egg that Luther hatched. And although Folly’s commentaries on every aspect of life are at times confusing and difficult to interpret, people continue to be fascinated by the insights that she gives. At the conclusion of her speech, Folly says, “I hate an audience which won’t forget” (208), but her audience wonders if she knows how unforgettable her words truly are.
Work Cited
Erasmus, Desiderius. Praise of Folly. Trans. Betty Radice. Ed. A.H.T. Levi. Markham: Penguin Books Ltd., 1971.
