JOHN MILTON AS A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE IN LITERATURE, WHOSE LIFE WAS A DRAMA IN THREE ACTS.

He was an English poet & political writer. His most popular work is “Paradise Lost”, which was written in 1667 & revised in 1674. Then in 1671 he wrote “Paradise regained” & “Samson Agonistes”, which were published in one volume.

Milton is the most dramatic figure in all the English literature. Critics call him “the battling Milton”, because his life was “a drama of 3 acts”. His soul was divided between 2 great aspirations & that was his tragedy. It was a wrestle between his pure poetic genius, which is clearly seen in his early writings & the puritan spirit of righteousness that was fully summoned in him by the Civil war. He dedicated himself to the cause he considered to be just. He suppressed poetry in his veins until the cause was lost. He set himself in seclusion to the task envisioned long before the epic, in which he hoped to justify the conclusions of his soul. His life was a drama in 3 acts: the 1^st one discovers Milton in the calm & peaceful retirement in his father’s home at Horton, where he wrote beautiful poems, full of elegant metaphors, & poetic expressions. The 2^nd act is the foul atmosphere of Civil war, the atmosphere of hatred that he breathed. He goes to participate in the war on the side of puritans & acted as Cromwell’s secretary. At that time wrote political pamphlets, trying to defend the nation. He summoned all his talent to prove that a nation has a right to execute Charles I and this was considered as a murder by the rest of the world. The blind & friendless he writes his “Paradise lost”, “Paradise regained” & “Samson Agonistes”. These are the works that exhibit the promethean grander of the poet, who rose up alone against the foreign world.

His wife left him soon & it was quite a blow for him, because of his puritan vision of life. This was folloed by the fierce pamphlets on divorce, addressing to the parliament. His wie’s comeback & their reconciliation seem to be described in the “Paradise lost”, where the repentant Eve seeks comfort & forgiveness from Adam.

Milton worked hard for Cromwell’s party 7 under Cromwell he wrote several pamphlets to defend the idea of revolution & the choice of English people. These works were written in Latin & to this period of time we can attribute Milton’s sonnets & these sonnets may also serve as a memorial of the time. But the devastating times were coming (1^st marriage – unhappy, 2^nd marriage was blighted by the death of his wife). Loss of sight, the overthrow of the puritan party, the captivity of practically all his friends, final retirement in loneliness were the influences that changed his influence to life & gave him this promethean grander of the poet, who rose up alone against the foreign world.

Shakespeare died at 52 & Milton at this age was reborn as a poet. For 10 more years he dictated his works, which made English literature unforgettable for practically all nations in the world.

Early Works

In his twenties, Milton wrote five masterful long poems, each of them influential and important in its own separate way: “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” “Comus,” “Lycidas,” “Il Penseroso,” and “L’Allegro.” Through these poems, Milton honed his skills at writing narrative, dramatic, elegiac, philosophical, and lyrical poetry. He had built a firm poetic foundation through his intense study of languages, philosophy, and politics, and fused it with his uncanny sense of tone and diction. Even in these early poems, Milton’s literary output was guided by his faith in God. Milton believed that all poetry served a social, philosophical, and religious purpose. He thought that poetry should glorify God, promote religious values, enlighten readers, and help people to become better Christians.

Aside from his poetic successes, Milton was also a prolific writer of essays and pamphlets. These prose writings did not bring Milton public acclaim. In fact, since his essays and pamphlets argued against the established views of most of England, Milton was even the object of threats. Nevertheless, he continued to form the basis for his political and theological beliefs in the form of essays and pamphlets.

Date: 2016-01-05; view: 3102