Taking a Look at John Milton

In chapters six and seven, West introduces Milton’s angelology and examines the choices he makes throughout his literature to maintain a specific representation of the angels and other supernatural subjects. Specifically, West identifies three problems Milton had to overcome in writing Paradise Lost, which involved balancing the need for literary description with the strict, biblical interpretation of angels hailed in Puritanism, deciding which opinions on angelology could be used to truthfully deduce the needed level of description, and broadly,

John Milton produced some of the most memorable Christian texts in English literature. Central pieces of Milton’s work, including Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes, specifically allude to stories that Judaism and Christianity hold in common. Historically, the anti-monarchical regime Milton supported, under the leadership of Cromwell, informally allowed Jews back into England in 1655 after Edward I exiled them in 1290 (Trepp 151). Additionally, seventeenth-century British Christians looked increasingly to Jewish texts to understand their own religion (e.g. Robert Ainsworth and John Seldon), with Hebraic studies from German scholarship and Latin translations of Jewish texts entering during the

BibliographyMilton, John. The Complete Poetry of John Milton. New York; Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. , 1971.

While Carl Sandburg’s “To the Ghost of John Milton” and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Milton” both discuss individuals leading rebellions against tyranny, their approaches widely differ. Sandburg’s use of free verse furthers his argument by symbolically showing that both individuals and writing should be free. On the other hand, Longfellow structures his poem in the rhyme structure of the Italian sonnet to add sound imagery of people revolting like waves crashing against the shore. Although both emphasize Milton’s rebellion against authoritative figures, I believe the structure of Sandburg’s poem in free verse better captures the freedom Milton craved.

John Milton’s ‘Sonnet XIX: When I Consider How my Light is Spent’, uses the literary techniques of metaphorical representations, irony and satire to convey it’s themes of religion, specifically concerning the use of ones God given talents, and the issue of disability upon and individuals religion to an audience in a political climate enduring through a drastic state of change in structure and values in a cultural revolution that valued a persons by their measure such as a poet through their authorial work, yet still remains significant to audiences today through satirical interpretation.

The seventeenth century was a time of drastic world events. Queen Elizabeth died and England crowned her eldest son, James VI, king. The Puritans fled the rule of the Church of England and land in Massachusetts. The world lost one of the greatest English writers, and the Black Plague consumed England. In addition to these enormous events, a new English writer was born. His name was John Milton. Milton was born in a middle-class family, and he received excellent schooling. A desire to learn drove this young man to travel the continent and to meet with many famous intellects. Milton became involved in politics and wrote for the famous Oliver Cromwell, and finally, before his passing, he wrote the great English epic, Paradise Lost.

Literature denoted a move from a period of confidence to a time of reason. Writing speaks to the turbulence in the public, religion, and the government of this period. Life for the English individuals changed as religious debate and common war shook the country. These issues reformulated the part of people in the public eye, viewpoints of confidence, and social structures in England. Authors of this period offer their own methods of insight as evidence of the issues and affected the masses. Particular cases of creators of this period who exhibit English issues and

John Milton sought to a very ambitious thing with his greatest work, Paradise Lost. He boldly asserted himself to the epic tradition, the most difficult genre. Further, the goal of his writing was perhaps the hardest topic a human being can engage with, the problem of evil. At the risk of being cliche, the old adage, “If you lose your faith over anything less than the problem of evil, you are simply not thinking.” seems fitting. Milton seems at least, whatever his faults, to understand the weight of the objection. He clearly describes this in the opening lines of his epic:

What is Milton arguing here? How does this relate to the Puritan ('Roundhead'), anti-Royalist cause in England (the historical context of this celebrated tract)?

Great works of literature have been written throughout history. However, The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost have the inept ability to stir the soul and cause a person to examine and re-examine their life. The brilliant descriptions, use of imagery, metaphor and simile give a person a vivid picture of the creation of man and the possibilities for life in the hereafter. This is done, as a person is able to see, full circle, from the beginning of time to the end of time, the consequences of turning away from God. The ability to see a life full circle is apparent through the examination of both of these poems. Although written many years ago, the morals and principles that they convey ring very true

During the English Civil War era 1642-1651, English statesman John Milton wrote an essay speaking out on the resistance theory. The essay was inspired by the capture, trial, subsequent execution of King Charles II of England, and is just as relevant today as it was during Milton's time. The essay describes briefly the origin of societies and the need for a strong king and government. He continues on to detail various theories of governments and some actions to be taken if the government becomes too strong and tyrannical and loses the divine right.

When a person hears Satan, a streak of fear, and the thought of evil arises. People fear Satan, and think of him as evil, but in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, he displays a thought of the Father being the evil being, and Satan a tragic hero. In Paradise Lost, Book 1 and 2, the minor areas where God is shown, He is displayed as hypocritical. He contradicts himself by creating the humans to be of free will, but when Satan displays free will, he is shunned. Satan could be described in many terms, and by many people, but all can be disputed. According to my sources, Satan is displayed as the hero, while God is the evil deity, and Milton was wrong for writing Him as so. In this essay, I will show my thoughts on the subject of Satan as an evil

Often in life we are faced with choices. They could be as simple as what you should wear that day or as important as what degree you should pursue. It is the more important choices in our lives however, that will define who we are and effect our future. C.S Lewis stated in his book, Mere Christianity, that "Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part that chooses, into something different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature." There are two books, Pilgrims Progress and Paradise Lost, that are perfect examples of this quote. Pilgrims Progress, by John Bunyan, is about the difficulties that a Christian faces throughout his journey towards the Celestial City. Paradise Lost, by John Milton, is, on the other hand, a story about Satan 's fall from heaven and His deception of Adam and Eve. These two great works of literature give clear examples of how choices effect the outcome of one 's life.

Although the poem calls the attention of the audience to the conflicts England was experiencing during the year of 1802, it serves two purposes. To begin, William Wordsworth calls for help to John Milton so he can rescue England with his nobility and virtue. For example, this poem which was written in the form of a sonnet as the lines follow an iambic pentameter, the speaker (who one can assume is William Wordsworth) addresses an announcement to the dead John Milton. During this first line: “Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour” (pg. 346), Wordsworth deeply mourns for Milton’s help in which he desires for him to be alive at that very moment in England to restore what had been forgotten. One can also conclude this poem is certainly

The theme of the 'heroic' in John Milton's Paradise Lost is one that has often been the focus of critical debate, namely in the debate surrounding which character is the 'true' hero of the poem. Most critics of the subject have, however, noted that the difficultly in defining the 'hero' of Milton's work is mainly due to our “vague understanding of what constitutes heroism”1 and the fact that “the term itself is equivocal”2. The 'vague' terming of what heroism can be defined as it what draws critics to disagree with one another over the nature of heroism, as Charles Martindale points out that there are 'different models of heroic', many of which Milton employs in his epic poem. To incorporate these different 'models' of the heroic into his