Age Of Milton

Question 1

What was the principal force in the literature of Miltons age?

Answer 1

Growth of Puritanism as a moral and social force , established as controlling power and it’s struggles

Question 2

Talk about the origin of Puritanism ( wrt Reformation) briefly.

Answer 2

At the time of Reformation there were radicals who were dissatisfied with the religious settlement reached by Archbishop Parker and Co.

Because they held that Church of England did not differ sufficiently from Church of Rome. They were the true descendants of Wyclif and the Lollards, influenced by Calvin from Geneva.

They also advocated strict views regarding lifes conduct. Came to be called Puritans.

Question 3

Talk about the spread of Puritanism briefly.

Answer 3

While the spirit of Puritans spread among English middle class steadily during reign of James I, it was not till the time of his successor Charles I that Puritanism became a national power.
IT was due to

The fast growing profligacy of the upper classes.
The high handed policy of bishop Laud and him enforcing his will by persecution.
The encroachments of Charles I on the rights of the Commons and the constitutional privileges of the English people.

Their keen sense of the supremacy of God as ruler of all, and the special rights of individual conscience made them intolerant of earthly tyranny.

Question 4

Thus Puritanism became a political and religious force and, very critically, a ____
How did it triumph ultimately?

Answer 4

A defender of jeopardised liberties.
IT triumphed after civil war with Oliver Cromwell, and ruled during few years of Commonwealth

Question 5

How was the Puritan man/ Puritan spirit- his merits and demerits?

Answer 5

Spirt of Puritanism was noble but stern. He was an intense and God fearing but unreasonable man.

In his preoccupation with spiritual things he neglected and denounced science, art which gave value to secular life.

Question 6

Puritanism destroyed secular culture and sought to confine literature within field of its interests. How was Milton different?

Answer 6

In Milton, the religious influence of Puritanism is combined with the generous culture of the Renaissance.

Question 7

When was Milton born and to whom?

Answer 7

Milton born in Bread Street, Cheapside, London 1608.
His father was strongly Puritan but loved literature and art, so Milton enjoyed that advantage.

Question 8

Where was Milton educated?

Answer 8

At St Pauls School and at Christs College, Cambridge where he remained seven years.

Question 9

Realising that he could not conscientiously enter the church, for which he intended, Milton decided to give himself up to self-culture and literary art. How so?

Answer 9

On leaving Cambridge he stayed at the country house of his family at Horton, Buckinghamshire.

And now during six years of uninterrupted seclusion he pursued his studies.

Building steadily on firm foundations he became a great scholar.

Question 10

What did Milton do when he was 30( later years)?

Answer 10

He resolved to complete his studies by travel and went by way of Paris to Italy.
He was prematurely recalled by state of things at home.

He was back in London after an absence and then onwards became active as a supporter of the Puritan cause against the Royalists.
As a pamphleteer he was one of the great pillars.

Question 11

What happened to Milton on the establishment of the Commonwealth?

Answer 11

He was appointed Latin Secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs.

Question 12

Miltons domestic life and the tragedy that happened?

Answer 12

Milton in Commonwealth era married Mary Powell, young daughter of a Royalist. IT was an unhappy marriage.

His sight which had long been failing,due to overstress of work, now he became totally blind.

He married again years later but his wife Catherine Woodcock died prematurely.

Question 13

What happened to Milton on the Restoration?

Answer 13

Milton was arrested and two of his books burnt by the hangman; but he was released and permitted to drop into obscurity.

He was now poor and lonely and blind; he felt the failure of the cause for which he had sacrificed so much.

Though his third wife Elizabeth Minshull brought comfort to his last years, he was distressed by the unfilial conduct of his daughters from his first marriage.

Question 14

Milton in darkness turned back into the ambitious poetical design he had cherished many years before. When was it published and what was it?

Answer 14

Paradise Lost 1667

Question 15

What are the 4 periods of Miltons work?

Answer 15

1) His college period ending with the close of Cambridge studies in 1632

2) his Horton period closing with his departure for the Continent in 1638

3) Prose writing 1640-1660

4) The late poetic period of greatest achievement

Question 16

Miltons college poems, Latin and English are for the most part a young man’s experimental work. However one is exceptional which is?

Answer 16

The ode ( On the Morning of Christs Nativity) which though far from perfect is a remarkable production for a man of 21.

Question 17

To the Horton period belong four minor poems of such beauty and power that they are enough to put Milton among legends. They are?

Answer 17

L’ Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, Lycidas

Question 18

Significance of the Horton years wrt earlier poetry?

Answer 18

During these years a big change was taking place in Miltons mind.

His earlier poetry he wrote chiefly under the inspiration and learning if the Renaissance. The Puritan element was at first quite subordinate and then it grew till it became dominant.

Question 19

Talk about L’ Allegro and Il Penseroso.

Answer 19

l’ Allegro and Il Penseroso- With their charming contrasted pictures of man and nature and art, as seen through melancholy in one and gladness in the other

There is little that is Puritan and a good deal that is un-Puritan- poet dwells on pleasures of romance, rustic sports– playhouse, Greek drama– church architecture,music. All hated by Puritans.

Question 20

Talk about Comus.

Answer 20

Comus marks a distinct stage of development in Miltons mind. Latent before, now the Puritan spirit is felt.

IT is the finest example in English literature of the form of Renaissance art called Mask( brought from Italy to be performed at courts) –
But though he wrote in forms of Renaissance art, he filled it with a stern moral meaning. The nobility of its tone and its supreme faith in God testify to the growing power of religious inspiration on the poets thought.

BC his simple story, of the lady lost in the woods, lured away by Comus and his band of revellers, rescued by her brothers with the help of an attendant spirit and and the river nymph– is a clear allegory of virtue attacked by sensuality and conquered through divine aid.

Question 21

Finally talk about Lycidas.

Answer 21

In Lycidas there is a political as well as spiritual Puritanism.

IT is an elegy of the death of Miltons college friend Edward King, and is in the conventional style of pastoral elegy.
In form therefore it belongs with Comus to the Renaissance. But the religious accent in it is unmistakably Puritan.

It’s famous attack on the corrupt church and hireling clergy of the time announce Miltons adherence to the Puritan cause.

Question 22

Thus from reviewing his earlier poetry,
we can say that the leaning and art of the Renaissance were not abandoned by Milton but____

Answer 22

More and more used in the service of a Puritan philosophy.

Question 23

On returning to England from the Continent, Milton was involved in political and religious controversies.

The ambition to write a great poem had taken shape in his mind but he laid it aside to perform public duty.

What did he write instead?

Answer 23

Next 20 years as prose writer

Question 24

How are Miltons prose works generally?

Answer 24

His prose works are not very interesting or agreeable,

For though they have nobility and occasional burst of eloquence they are too often marred by

Coarseness of phrase and the intensely bitter temper prevalent among contemporary polemics.

Question 25

Comment on Miltons prose style. Was it modern?

Answer 25

The style is heavy and cumbrous.

Long sentences, involved constructions, parentheses, Latin inversions

No it was not modern prose.

Question 26

What is the one prose work of Milton that should be read and why?

Answer 26

Areopagiticia
Directed against the censorship of books and is a plea for freedom of thought and speech.

Question 27

Miltons Later Poetry.

It was not till__ that drove him into private obscurity that Milton found leisure to accomplish his cherished poetic design.

Answer 27

Restoration

Question 28

In Paradise Lost he published one of the greatest English poems. How can we see his combination of qualities in this work?

Answer 28

Inspiration and subject matter alike come from Miltons Puritanism ;
Paradise Lost is an exposition of his theology ( “assert Eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to men”)

As an artist he had not ceased to belong to the Renaissance. The poem everywhere takes us back to the great classical epics.

With the stern moral purpose he blended the love for learning and beauty.

Question 29

In the blindness and loneliness of his old age Milton fondly recalled the secular studies of his youth. So the _ in Milton had not killed the _

Answer 29

Puritan had not killed the humanist

Question 30

What is the greatest regular epic poem?

Answer 30

Paradise lost

Question 31

That the greatest epic poem in English literature should be based not on ___ but___ subject, and functions as the vehicle of Christian teaching, is of utmost importance

Answer 31

Not on classical but theological

Question 32

Story of Paradise Lost? Central purpose?

Answer 32

Revolt of Satan against God, the war in heaven, the fall of rebel angels,

the creation of the world and Man, the temptation of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from garden of Eden

Purpose was to show how man’s first disobedience brought sin and death, but characteristically he does not let evil win,
Introducing instead the divine work of redemption

Question 33

Talk about Paradise Regained, the sequel.

Answer 33

Sequel in four books about Christ wandering in the wilderness

Not up to quality like it’s prequel

Question 34

Talk about the dramatic poem Samson Agonistes, the crowning labour of Miltons closing years.

Answer 34

Milton applies the forms of classical art to a biblical subject again. .

Work is fashioned on a Greek Tragedy but subject matter is Samsons fate among the Philistines.

The subject matter had been in Miltons thought before when he was thinking about a great poem but he rejected it.

Now he returned because he saw in Samson a figure like himself. Blind and surrounded by enemies.

Question 35

Characteristics of Miltons work.

Who is the greatest English poet outside the drama?

Answer 35

Milton

Question 36

In Milton we have a union of _ and _ power.

Answer 36

Creative and intellectual

Question 37

Miltons touch is as sure in delicate details as it is in vast general effects. What epithet can be applied to him for this SUBLIMITY?

Answer 37

Miltonic

Question 38

Milton is the acknowledged greatest user of what__ called the “grand style”

Answer 38

Matthew Arnold

Question 39

Miltons descriptive power is astonishing, as seen in__

Answer 39

Opening books of Paradise lost, scenes in Hell

Question 40

While Milton was entirely lacking in the true ____, the debate in the council of fallen Angels and the whole conduct of temptation of Eve, show ___

Answer 40

Dramatic sense, extraordinary insight into characters motives

Question 41

Is Miltons epic poem impersonal like epic poems are supposed to be?

Answer 41

No. Miltons epic is full of the spirit of the man himself.

He is often austere but he has a very intense individuality. We feel we are in the presence of one “ whose soul was like a star, and dwelt apart”

Question 42

Talk about the technical side of Miltons poetry. What did he introduce newly?

Answer 42

He introduced blank verse. This form had been used in drama long before but not adopted for any non dramatic poem.

Milton was therefore making an experiment when he wrote Paradise Lost in “ heroic verse without rime” – he is still it’s greatest master.