Humanities 3 VI. The Last Epic
Lecture 26 Milton: Poetry and Politics
Outline The Meanings of Freedom Milton s Life and the English Revolution What is an Epic? Who s the Hero?
Meanings of Freedom (or Liberty ) Hobbes and Milton are both centrally concerned with the scope of human freedom Both also understand that different senses of the word must be distinguished It can refer to freedom of the will: a human being s capacity for unconstrained choice Or political freedom: the freedom of action that is protected under the laws of a state or sovereign
Hobbes Minimizes the importance of freedom of the will; he equates it with the physical freedom to move one s body, if it is not constrained (a river can be free in this sense) In the state of nature, one s freedom or right of nature is limited only by one s power In a commonwealth, political freedom is limited to what is allowed by the sovereign s laws, as well as the rights one does not cede to the sovereign (life, bodily integrity, physical movement)
Milton Takes the issue of freedom of will very seriously; it is one of the axes on which PL turns He assumes that Satan and prelapsarian human beings have complete freedom of choice in relation to God s commands Milton is an opponent of the unlimited authority of the sovereign and a strong defender of political freedom, e.g. the right to divorce and the right of freedom of speech
John Milton (1608-74) Poet from a very young age Cambridge education (BA in 1629, MA in 1632) 1638-9 tours Europe, visits Italy, Galileo
Charles I and the Civil War Charles I succeeds James I in 1625 Religious controversies (1630s) 1642-8 English civil war 1646 Charles I surrenders 1649 Charles I beheaded
Milton s Role in the Revolution 1644 publishes Areopagitica, an attack on government licensing of the press 1649 defends Charles I s beheading 1650s works as secretary, pamphleteer for Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell 1660 publishes defense of republican ideas By 1651, Milton is blind 1667 Publication of Paradise Lost
What s an Epic? Elevated, Latinate diction, multiple clauses (high style) Blank verse Subject is war Characters are divine Aristocratic audience Journey to underworld Allusive Often has national ambitions
Latinate diction Latin is an inflected language = word endings denote relationship of words in sentences, making word order irrelevant Canis mordet hominem. Mordet hominem canis. Hominem canis mordet.
English doesn t have word endings that indicate relationship of words, so word order important is. Amanda kicks William. William kicks Amanda. Amanda William kicks.
Damon, tell us of your first bicycle.
Of your first bicycle, tell us, Damon.
Of your first bicycle, and the scabby Knees you got when you off fell, tell us, Damon.
Of your first bicycle, and the knees Scabby you got when off you fell, Which like hell hurt For days and days, tell us, Damon.
Of your first bicycle, and the scabby Knees you got when off you fell, which like hell hurt For days and days, till your parent female Bactine on them put, and better it all kissed, Tell us, Damon, whose office is in HSS, Or sometimes outdoors at Art of Espresso.
Of Man s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater man, Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, Heav nly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the heav ns and earth Rose out of Chaos; or if Sion s hill Delight thee more, and Siloa s brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my advent rous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
Blank Verse The measure is in English heroic verse without rhyme.... This neglect of rhyme so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so to vulgar readers, that it rather is to be esteemed an example set, the first in English. (Preface to Paradise Lost)
Epic Subject is War Iliad The Odyssey Aeneid The Lusiads Orlando Furioso Jerusalem Liberated All these poems treat of military subjects, war councils, single combats and mass attacks.
Characters of Epic are Divine, or Semi-Divine Consider the main characters in the previously-mentioned poems. Note how many derive from gods, or how often the actions of the gods drive the action of the poems.
Audience of Epic is Aristocratic Heroes descended from gods, and many aristocrats derived their lineage in similar fashion. Single combats and war councils are strictly the province of the aristocratic class. Rhyme is for hoi polloi. and fit audience find, though few (7.30-1)
Journeys to the Underworld (books 1-2) Allusions (1.376ff - muster of the fallen angels) National ambitions
Who s the Hero? Nothing can exceed the energy and magnificence of the character of Satan as expressed in Paradise Lost. It is a mistake to suppose that he could ever have been intended for the popular personification of evil. Milton's Devil as a moral being is as far superior to his God. - Shelley The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it. - Blake
Satan as Lousy Democrat? Demonic Council: Moloch - unending war Belial - peaceful sloth Mammon - make hell heaven Beelzebub - corrupt new creation
But then again Speech to Beelzebub at 1.105-24 Speech to Hell at 1.250-63 Speech to fallen angels at 1.315-30
Things to consider as you read: Milton is the great poet of temptation his temptation scenes are unrivalled. Milton is also the great English poet of marital love.