Read complete books and articles on: John Milton

Milton, John - 1608–74, English poet, b. London, one of the greatest poets of the English language.

Early Life and Works

Milton, John - 1608–74, English poet, b. London, one of the greatest poets of the English language.

Early Life and Works

The son of a wealthy scrivener, Milton was educated at St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge. While Milton was at Cambridge he wrote poetry in both Latin and English, including the ode "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" (1629). Although the exact dates are unknown, "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso" were probably written not long after this. His dislike of the increasing ritualism in the Church of England was the reason he later gave for not fulfilling his plans to become a minister. Resolved to be a poet, Milton retired to his father's estate at Horton after leaving Cambridge and devoted himself to his studies. There he wrote the masque Comus (1634) and "Lycidas" (1638), one of his greatest poems, an elegy on the death of his friend Edward King.

Political and Moral Tracts

In 1638 Milton went to Italy, where he traveled, studied, and met many notable figures, including Galileo. Returning to England in 1639, he supported the Presbyterians in their attempt to reform the Church of England. His pamphlets, which attacked the episcopal form of church government, include Of Reformation in England (1641) and The Reason of Church Government Urged against Prelaty (1642).

In 1643 Milton married Mary Powell, a young woman half his age, who left him the same year. Disillusioned by the failure of his marriage, he started work on four controversial pamphlets (1643–45) upholding the morality of divorce for incompatibility. His Areopagitica (1644), one of the great arguments in favor of the freedom of the press, grew out of his dissatisfaction with the strict censorship of the press exercised by Parliament.

Milton gradually broke away from the Presbyterians, and in 1649 he wrote The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, which supported the Independents who had imprisoned King Charles in the Puritan Revolution. In it he declared that subjects may depose and put to death an unworthy king. This pamphlet secured Milton a position in Oliver Cromwell's government as Latin secretary for foreign affairs, and he continued to defend Cromwell and the Commonwealth government in his Eikonoklastes [the image breaker] (1649)—an answer to Eikon Basilike—and in the Latin pamphlets First Defense of the English People (1651), Second Defense of the English People (1654), and Defense of Himself (1655).

Later Life

In the midst of his heavy official business and pamphleteering, Milton, whose sight had been weak from childhood, became totally blind. From then on, he had to carry on his work through secretaries, one of whom was Andrew Marvell. Mary Powell returned to Milton in 1645 but died in 1652 after she had borne him three daughters. He married Catharine Woodcock in 1656, and she died two years later. She is the subject of one of his most famous sonnets, beginning, "Methought I saw my late espoused saint." In 1663 he married Elizabeth Minshull, who survived him. Milton supported the Commonwealth to the very end. After the Restoration (1660) he was forced into hiding for a time, and some of his books were burned. He was included in the general amnesty, however, and lived quietly thereafter.

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

For many years Milton had planned to write an epic poem, and he probably started his work on Paradise Lost before the Restoration. The blank-verse poem in ten books appeared in 1667; a second edition, in which Milton reorganized the original ten books into twelve, appeared in 1674. It was greatly admired by Milton's contemporaries and has since then been considered the greatest epic poem in the English language. In telling the story of Satan's rebellion against God and the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Milton attempted to account for the evil in this world and, in his own words, to "justify the ways of God to man."

Paradise Regained, a second blank-verse poem in four books, describes how Jesus, a greater individual than Adam, overcame the temptations of Satan. In both works, Milton's characterizations of Satan, Adam, Eve, and Jesus are penetrating and moving. Indeed, his portrayal of Satan is so compelling that many 19th-century critics maintained that he rather than Adam was the hero of Paradise Lost. In these two great works Milton's language is dignified and ornate, replete with biblical and classical allusions, allegorical representations, metaphors, puns, and rhetorical flourishes. Samson Agonistes, a poetic drama modeled on classical Greek tragedy but with biblical subject matter, appeared together with Paradise Regained in 1671.

Other Works

Milton's theology, although in the Protestant tradition, is extremely unorthodox and individual on many points; it is set forth in the Latin pamphlet De doctrina Christiana [on Christian doctrine]. Unpublished during Milton's lifetime, this work was discovered and published in 1825. Milton also wrote 18 sonnets in English and 5 in Italian, which generally follow the Petrarchan style and are accepted as among the greatest ever written.

Bibliography

See his complete works (ed. by F. A. Patterson, 20 vol., 1931–40); 1-vol. collections by F. A. Patterson (rev. ed. 1933), D. Bush (1965), and J. T. Shawcross (1971); variorum commentary on the poems (M. Y. Hughes, general editor; Vol. I, 1970; Vol. II, in 3 parts, 1972); Yale edition of his prose works (Vol. I-VI, 1953–73); biographies by W. A. Raleigh (1900, repr. 1967), J. H. Hanford (1949), W. R. Parker (2 vol., 1968), and E. Wagenknecht (1971); studies by M. Nicolson (1963), D. Bush (1964), E. M. W. Tillyard (3 studies: 1938, repr. 1963; 1951, repr. 1960; and rev. ed. 1965), D. Daiches (1957, repr. 1966), J. M. Steadman (1967 and 1968), A. D. Ferry (1963 and 1969), J. T. Shawcross (1966, 1967, and 1970), F. Kermode (1960, repr. 1971), C. A. Patrides (1971), and J. D. Simmonds, ed. (1969 and 1971).

See also J. H. Hanford and V. G. Taffe, A Milton Handbook (1970); L. Potter, A Preface to Milton (1972); J. Broadbent, ed., John Milton: Introductions (1973); M. Lieb and J. T. Shawcross, ed., Achievements of the Left Hand (1974).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: John Milton

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

John Milton » Read Now
by Kenneth Muir. 200 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...JOHN MILTON MEN AND BOOKS JOHN MILTON by KENNETH MUIR LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO LONDON NEWYORK...Shakespeare turned from tragedy to romance, on 9 December 1608, John Milton...
2.

The Complete Critical Guide to John Milton » Read Now
by Richard Bradford. 215 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

There is a crying need for an accessible, comprehensive guide to John Milton for the thousands of students who make their way through his poetry every year on literary survey and seventeenth century literature courses. Where many previous guides have dragged their way through Paradise Lost ...
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There is a crying need for an accessible, comprehensive guide to John Milton for the thousands of students who make their way through his poetry every year on literary survey and seventeenth century literature courses. Where many previous guides have dragged their way through Paradise Lost , Richard Bradford brings Milton to life with an overview of his life, contexts, work and the relationship between these, and of the main critical issues surrounding his work.
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3.

John Milton, Englishman » Read Now
by James Holly Hanford. 274 pgs.

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...I . John Milton JOHN MILTON ENGLISHMAN JOHN MILTON ENGLISHMAN James Holly Hanford CROWN PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Copyright, 1949, by JAMES HOLLY HANFORD QUOTED MATERIAL, AS...
4.

Milton: A Biography » Read Now
by Gordon Campbell, William Riley Parker. 666 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

When this monumental work was first published in 1968, it was hailed as one of the great literary biographies of the century. Based on a vast range of documentary evidence, the book is essential reading for all students of Milton and seventeenth-century literature. This new edition of the biography...
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When this monumental work was first published in 1968, it was hailed as one of the great literary biographies of the century. Based on a vast range of documentary evidence, the book is essential reading for all students of Milton and seventeenth-century literature. This new edition of the biography has been revised and serves as a complete, self-contained, and accessible account of Milton's life.
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5.

The Poetical Works of John Milton: With Translations of the Italian, Latin and Greek Poems from the Columbia University Edition (includes Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Sampson Agonistes, and minor poems) » Read Now
by David Masson, John Milton. 625 pgs.

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...THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON...Edition THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY DAVID...Museum. To the poets...
6.

John Milton's Paradise Lost (literary criticism) » Read Now
by Harold Bloom. 169 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

-- Presents the most important 20th-century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature
-- The critical essays reflect a variety of schools of criticism
-- Contains critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index
7.

Beautiful Sublime: The Making of Paradise Lost, 1701-1734 » Read Now
by Leslie E. Moore. 235 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Literature, Entire Library

...vols. Baltimore, Md., 1939-43. CPW Milton John. Complete Prose Works of John Milton . Ed. Don M. Wolfe . 8 vols. New Haven...43. LJM Toland John. The Life of John Milton ...
8.

Milton's Adam and Eve: Fallible Perfection » Read Now
by George Musacchio. 218 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

...bibliographical references. 1. Milton, John, 1608-1674. Paradise...are from The Works of John Milton , edited by Frank Allen...thanks go to the three Milton scholars who...
9.

Milton and Scriptural Tradition: The Bible into Poetry » Read Now
by James H. Sims, Leland Ryken. 214 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Literature, Entire Library

...Pecheux-- etc. Includes index. 1. Milton, John, 1608-1674--Religion and ethics...indicates the historical poet, John Milton, who believed in Scripture as...of the Bible as...
10.

Imperfect Sense: The Predicament of Milton's Irony » Read Now
by Victoria Silver. 409 pgs.

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Why do we hate Milton's God? Victoria Silver reengages with a perennial problem in Milton studies, one whose genealogy dates back at least to the Romantics, but which finds its most cogent modern expression in William Empson's revulsion at Milton's God and Stanley Fish's defense.Thoroughly...
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Why do we hate Milton's God? Victoria Silver reengages with a perennial problem in Milton studies, one whose genealogy dates back at least to the Romantics, but which finds its most cogent modern expression in William Empson's revulsion at Milton's God and Stanley Fish's defense.Thoroughly reexamining Milton's theology and its sources in Luther and Calvin, as well as theoretical parallels in the works of Wittgenstein, Cavell, Adorno, and Benjamin, Silver contends that this repugnance is not extrinsic but deliberately cultivated in the theodicy of Paradise Lost. From the vantage of a world riven by injustice, deity can appear to contradict its own revelation, with the result that we experience a God divided against himself. For as Job found in his sufferings, that God appears more ruse than redeemer. Milton's irony recreates this religious predicament in Paradise Lost to the intractable perplexity of his readers, who have in their turn fashioned an equally dissociated Milton--at once unconscious and calculating, heterodox and doctrinaire, heroic and intolerable.Silver argues that, ultimately, these contrary Gods and antithetical Miltons arise from the sense we want to give the speaker's justification, which rather than ratifying our assumptions of meaning and the incoherence they foster, seeks fundamentally to reform them and thus to justify God's ways.
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11.

Milton, Poet of Duality: A Study of Semiosis in the Poetry and the Prose » Read Now
by R. A. Shoaf. 224 pgs.

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...ISBN 0-8130-1192-2 1. Milton, John, 1608-1674--Criticism and...of Duality as that of John Leonard in Naming in Paradise: Milton and the Language of Adam and...Harris...
12.

The Influence of Milton on English Poetry » Read Now
by Raymond Dexter Havens. 726 pgs.

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13.

The Harmonious Vision: Studies in Milton's Poetry » Read Now
by Don Cameron Allen. 125 pgs.

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...Michael will look into the future, so in the opening lines Milton led by the Heavenly Muse--"for Heavn hides nothing from thy...Woe to the inhabitants of the earth," and we...
14.

Milton's Literary Milieu » Read Now
by George Wesley Whiting. 401 pgs.

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...2 The Poetical Works of John Milton New York, 1936 , p. xviii...3 The Poems of John Milton . With Introduction and Notes by...text, The Poetical Works of John Milton , and...
15.

Milton's Grand Style » Read Now
by Christopher Ricks. 154 pgs.

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...agree with Dr. Leavis. Do Miltons syntactical effects make his...not grand but grandiose? Mr. John Peters examples must be considered...departs from English not because...
16.

John Milton: The Inner Life » Read Now
by James Thorpe. 202 pgs.

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What was John Milton really like as a human being? What can we learn about his poems from seeing them in the context of the fundamental nature of their author? This book offers a fresh way of thinking about Milton and his writings by exploring the intimate and complex relation between a close understanding of his poems and.