Milton

John Milton's writings reflect a lifelong effort to unite the aims of political, intellectual and literary experimentation. In doing so he became the most influential non-dramatic poet in the English language. This class explores Milton's major works, especially Paradise Lost. We'll consider Milton's highly original characters, especially Satan, with whom we are invited to sympathize, but also Adam, Eve and the Son. We'll encounter Milton's startling poetic innovations, his highly controversial ideas about sovereignty, marriage and God, and we will consider Milton's writings in relation to European precursors and 17th-century women's writing.