Milton

Catalog description

Although censored and reviled by many in his own day, John Milton (1608-1674), author of Paradise Lost among other powerful anti-monarchical writings of the English Revolution, has influenced writers as varied as William Blake, Mary Shelley, Thomas Jefferson, Friedrich Engels, C.S. Lewis, Malcolm X, and Philip Pullman. This course will investigate what has made Milton a writer at once so much imitated and beloved by his admirers and loathed and denigrated by detractors. The bulk of this course will center on a careful, challenging, and chronological reading of Milton's works, primarily Paradise Lost but also his great shorter poems including Lycidas, Paradise Regain'd, and Samson Agonistes, and selections of his voluminous prose (Areopagitica, Of Education, Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, Readie and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth). Studying Milton's development as a poet, controversialist, and pamphleteer, students will examine Milton's contexts (chiefly, literary, political, and theological) in order gain further insights into the complex relations between Milton's 17th-century world and his major poems and prose. Please note: Freshmen are prohibited from registering for this course. Sophomores must obtain instructor permission. Prerequisites: 76-101 or 76-102 or ( 76-107 and 76-106 ) or ( 76-106 and 76-108 ) or ( 76-108 and 76-107 )