The Age of Milton 1625 - 1660

Social Background The English Bourgeois Revolution and Restoration: 1) The weakening of the tie between monarchy and bourgeois 2)  The Clashes between the King and Parliament 3)  The outburst of the English Revolution 4)  The split within the revolutionary camp 5)  The bourgeois dictatorship and the Restoration

Historical events King james II flees – 1688 Reign of James I (1603 – 1625) – The Jacobean Age Reign Of Charles I (1625 – 1649) The Coroline Age Common Wealth (1649 – 1660) The Interim Period of Commonwealth Restoration of Charles II (1660 – 1685) Reign of James – II (1685 – 1688) The Glorious Revolution - 1688 King james II flees – 1688 William III & Mary II – 1689 Mary II – dies, 1694 William III – Dies 1702 The Theatres closed – 1642 Reopening of the theatre – 1660 The Great Fire of London - 1666

The English Revolution and Puritanism The English revolution was carried out under a religious cloak English revolution also called the Puritan revolution The Puritan Movement aimed to make man honest and to make man free. Preached thrift, sobriety, hard work, but with very little extravagant enjoyment of the fruits of labor Worldly pleasures were condemned as harmful. The triumph of Puritanism under Cromwell, severe laws were passed Until the end of the Commonwealth, there were two leaders in England, Cromwell the man of action, and Milton the man of thought.

Literature of the Revolution Period: General characteristics The Revolution Period was one of confusion in literature due to the breaking up of the old ideals. The Puritans believed in simplicity of life. They disapproved of the sonnets and the love poetry written in the previous period. Literature was as divided in spirit as were the struggling parties. 2) Literature in the Puritan Age expressed age and sadness. Even its brightest hours were followed by gloom and pessimism. 3) Romantic ardor can not be found in the literature of the Puritan period. 4) John Milton, whose work would glorify any age and people, represented the ‘voice’ of the Puritan age; in his work the indomitable revolutionary spirit found its noblest expression. For this reason, this period is also called Age of Milton 5) The main literary form of the period was poetry．Besides Milton, there were two other groups of poets, the Metaphysical Poets and the Cavalier Poets

Metaphysical Poets The Metaphysical Poets appeared at the beginning of the 17th century They sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new world and new poetry Rebellious spirit, they favoured in poetry a more colloquial language, a single-minded working of one theme They tended to logically reason the things, esp. emotions, psychologically analyze the emotions of love and religion, love the novelty and the shocking, use the metaphysical conceits, and ignore the conventional devices.

Metaphysical Poets John Donne (1573 – 1631) John Donne (1573-1631) is the founder of the Metaphysical School Works: Songs and Sonnets, The Sun Rising, The Flea John Donne (1573 – 1631) Abraham Cowley (1619 – 1667) Richard Crashaw (1613 – 1649) George Herbert (1593 – 1633) Henry Vaughan (1622 – 1695) Thomas Traherne (1634 – 1704) No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Cavalier Poets Most of these poets were courtiers and soldiers They sided with the king to fight against the revolution supported King Charles I during the English Civil War King Charles was a connoisseur of the fine arts and therefore demanded their creation, i.e. masques, poetry, and drama Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674) Thomas Carew (1598 – 1639) Francis Quaries (1592 – 1644) Sir John Suckling (1600 – 1642) Richard Lovelace (1618 – 1658) Andrew Marvell (1621 – 1678)

John Milton’s Life Born: December 9, 1608, London Died: November 8, 1674, Chalfont St Giles Full name: John Milton Education: University of Cambridge, St Paul's School, London, Christ's College, Cambridge John Milton was an English poet Polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell

John Milton’s Life I Period – Closing with the end of his Cambridge Career – 1632 His first work is an ode On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity Its far from perfect Sadly Married by Conceits & inequalities of Style Remarkable Production for a poet of 21 II Period – The Horton period – Closing with his departure for the continent - 1638 4 minor poems of such beauty & power L’Allegro (1633) II Penseroso ( 1633) Comus (1634) Lycidas (1637)

Lycidas Lycidas first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies entitled Justa Edouardo King Naufrago. the death of Edward King, a college-mate of Milton's at Cambridge Monody. A lyrical lament for one voice, it begins with an invocation, then explores the conventions of the pastoral, then ends with a conclusion to Milton's "emotional problem"

Milton’s life III Period – Prose writing from 1640 – 1660, Modern English prose had not yet come into existence 20 years continued active as a writer of prose Dozen sonnets Style is heavy & Cumbrous “His left hand didn’t possess the cunning of his right” Areopagitica – Essentially a plea for freedom of thought & Speech Read by every lover of Literature & intellectual liberty

IV Period of Milton The last Poetic period or period of his great achievement Stupendous masterpiece of intellectual energy & creative power Paradise Lost – English Heroic verse without rime Paradise Regained Samson Agonistes Theme in Paradise Lost About the fall of Men: man’s disobedience and the loss of Paradise Satan is the real hero of the poem Adam --The first human, the father of our race Eve -The first woman and the mother of mankind. God the Father - creates the world by means of God the Son, creating Adam and Eve last God the Son - Jesus Christ, offers himself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of mankind

Paradise Regained explores the theme of temptation and fall and shows how humankind, in the person of Christ, withstands the tempter and is established once more in the divine favor Samson Agonistes a poetical drama modeled on the Greek tragedy the Old Testament Samson was an athlete of the Israelites stood as their champion, fighting for the freedom of his country betrayed by his wife and blinded by his enemies the Philistines One day he was summoned to provide amusement for his enemies by feats of strength in a temple wreaked his vengeance upon his enemies by pulling down the temple upon them and upon himself in a common ruin Samson signify Milton

Features of Milton's Poetry Great revolutionary poet of the 17th century. He is also an outstanding political pamphleteer of the Revolution period. He made a strong influence on the later progressive English poets. Great stylist. That is because he made a life-long study of classical and Biblical literature. Great master of blank verse. He is the glorious pioneer to introduce blank verse into non-dramatic poetry. He has used it as the main tool in his masterpiece Paradise Lost. His blank verse is rich in every poetic quality and never monotonous. Wrote the greatest epic in English literature. He made a strong influence o later English poetry. His poetry is noted for sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.