ENGL 335, Milton, Fall 2013

Abstract

A study of the major poetry and selections of prose of the 17th century writer John Milton. Milton's a fascinating figure who composed in an extraordinary range of genres, including an epitaph on Shakespeare; sonnets on historical events as well as on his own life; poems about Christ, including a dialogue with Satan; a play about shepherds; prose treatises on divorce and governance; an influential elegy on the death of a companion; a 'closet' drama about the biblical Samson. While we will be surveying the full range of these genres across his learned career, we will be devoting much of our attention to Paradise Lost, the major epic of the English language, based on the story of Genesis yet encompassing profound and still relevant reflections on liberty, rebellion, history, providence, social hierarchies, and domestic relations in magnificent verse. As a contemporary writer praised this undertaking: “You who read Paradise Lost, the sublime poem of the great Milton, what do you read but the story of all things?” Seminar participants will be expected to attend two events outside of class: a symposium on the ―The Past and Future of the Book‖ (October 11), and a marathon reading of Paradise Lost (November 16). Prerequisite: any 200-level literature course (285 preferred).