Apologist for the Devil
It’s the birthday of the great English poet John Milton, born in London (1608). He’s best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). But he spent twenty years of his life writing almost nothing but essays on political and religious topics.
…Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself….
He married a woman named Mary Powell in 1642, but she quickly grew tired of him and left him almost immediately after their honeymoon. Milton was furious, but it was against the law to get a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. The next year, he wrote The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643), in which he argued that couples should be able to divorce if the marriage turns out to be unhappy. He tried to prove that marriage was created to remedy the loneliness of men, and that if a wife failed to perform this function, her husband should have the right to divorce her. He also said that those who had lived freely in their youth were more likely to find happiness in marriage than those who were chaste and inexperienced. Milton addressed his tract to the British Parliament, but it didn’t go over well. He remained married to Powell until her death in 1652.
Milton was also one of the early crusaders against the government’s censorship of books and pamphlets. He argued that no one group should control the number of available opinions from which an individual can choose. He wrote, “Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself.”
But his great masterpiece was Paradise Lost, from which many readers come away feeling that Satan is the most interesting and sympathetic character in the poem.
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Do you like Milton??? What have you read by him.
Like him? I love him! Thanks to the benefits of a classical education and a copy of the Norton Anthology of English (3rd Edition) I managed to get a good bit of Milton; Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes, and Lycidas. The book was very thick and made of the same thin paper that most bibles were printed on. While most of my classmates were using the pages for rolling paper, I actually read them.
I read a lot, but I have not read any Milton. Upon hearing his name this is what automatically pops into my head:
Animal House - Donald Sutherland saying that even Mrs. Milton found John Milton really dull.
Sorry, brain filter on the fritz today, I guess.
I had forgotten that reference… let’s just say you need to be in the mood to read 17th century english
Milton was a fascinating man & well beyond his time. I also find his political stuff far more interesting that his poetry - but then I’m not big on peotry in general:-)
Satan was definitely the best character in Paradise LOst.
Michele sent me
I’ll have to read up on some of his politics. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for visiting Michele’s
One of my favorite quotes is from Milton’s “Paradise Lost”. Satan says that the mind is a place in itself and can make a heaven out of hell and a hell out of heaven.
Yes… Milton even made it into the old Star Trek series where Khan says “It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.”
I forgot about Khan! Star Trek does make some great literary references;)
Yes, bad acting with literary pretentions…. who doesn’t love it
[I certainly do!]