JohnMiltonParadiseLost分析

2.Milton’s Religion
1). Milton believed that each individual Christian should be his own church, without any establishment to encumber him. 2). In his later years, Milton came to view all organized Christian churches, whether Anglican, Catholic or Presbyterian, as an obstacle to true faith.
4. Milton’s literary career
• 1625-1640: short poems: L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (1632), Comus (1634, 宴会欢乐之 神), and Lycidas (1638) 1640-1660: pamphlets and tracts: Areopagitica (1644《论出版自由》); The Defense of the English People (1650); The 2nd Defense of the English People (1650).
《离婚的戒律与学说》 c. Areopagitica 《论出版自由 》 a prose work for the freedom of the press d. Defence of the English People 《为英国人民声辩》 — A pamphlet against the divine right of the king. — People made the king, so the king should do everything for the people.
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1660-1674: Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671), and Samson Agonistes (1671).
1). Milton’s Works of His Early Days
Poems written in Cambridge and at Horton: a. On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity 《基督诞 生晨颂》, first important work b. L’Allegro《快乐的人》 twin lyrical poems Penseroso《幽思的人》 Rhyme: abbacdeec c. Comus 《科玛斯》a mask假面剧, in blank verse d. Lycidas 《利西达斯》, expressing the pathos(哀颂)of his friend Edward King’s premature death
3. His revolutionary career
1). Pamphleteering in the cause of religious and civil liberty in 1641-60. 2). Appointed Latin Secretary to Cromwell’s Council of State in 1649. 3). Censor and editor of the Commonwealth paper, Mercurius Politicu in 1651. Latin Defense of the People of England. 4). Totally blind in 1652 and imprisoned for a short time after the restoration and then retired to private life.
e. The Second Defence of the English People 《再为英国人民声辩》
Байду номын сангаас
2). Works of his adult years:
a. pamphlets on religious reform Of Reformation in England《论英国改革》 b. pamphlets on marriage and divorce: Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce
1. John Milton's Times
• 1642-1649: English Civil War – King/Anglican Clergy vs. Parliament (dominated by Puritans) • Protestant Revolution (Death of King Charles I) • 1649-1660: No British King – 1649-1653: Commonwealth – 1653-1658: Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell – 1660: Restoration (of King Charles II)
Lecture 9
John Milton —
Paradise Lost
Jacobs Ladder
John Milton(1608—1674 )
He remained outside both Donne’s and Jonson’s influence
Paradise Lost takes its place in western literature along with Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aneid《伊尼伊德》, and Dante’s Divine Comedy and in English literature with Beowulf and Spenser’s Fairie Queene.