Substance and Essence

In metaphysics, 'substance' refers to the fundamental reality that exists independently and forms the basis of everything. It's the 'thing' in itself. 'Essence', on the other hand, is the set of attributes or characteristics that make something what it fundamentally is and without which it wouldn't be that thing. For example, the 'substance' could be a book, and the 'essence' could be the fact it has pages, words, and gives information or tells a story.