Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot - Essay Example

Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot The book, Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot – Part 3, Poet and Prophet by Anna Beer cannot be classified as just another biography of Milton, but it is much more than that. Even though she begins by tracing the career of Milton, she is successful in bringing out the liveliness that is associated with his works. Her book shows that she has put in a considerable amount of effort to find out the reason for Milton’s choice of language to be Latin, which could be either due to the fact that Milton could express his thoughts better in Latin and because he felt, it was safe to express the homoerotic relationship with Charles Diodati in Latin. This is a bold attempt on the part of Beer as she has gone a step ahead than other biographers who have tried to understand Milton’s life. Some previous attempts at analyzing Milton have been biased because Milton’s work has a firm rooting in Greek, Latin and Theology, an aspect that those writers have been ignorant to these factors. However, Anna Beer takes a different approach with language to make Milton’s work more appreciable to the readers. She tries to use a non-academic and casual tone that many readers would find familiar as well as amusing. For example, in Paradise Lost, she describes the association between Adam and Eve as “any dysfunctional unhappily married couple”. Beer goes on to explore the role of Milton as a pamphleteer as that aspect came across very clearly through his advocacy of republicanism, freedom of speech, less stringent divorce laws and so on. Beer has done a considerable amount of research to express all this with a great level of detail. However, amidst all this, Beer does not give a lot of importance to his poetry, something this is a common trend being noticed in the modern analysis of Milton. In her analysis, Paradise Lost is considered as the ‘political allegory’ of the times that he lived in. Considering Paradise Lost as just a political allegory reduces the sense of defiance, passion and fury that Milton portrays very strongly due to the tragedies that he faced in his life. She also briefly touches upon his other works, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, in a simplified manner. Hence, it can be concluded that Beer’s book is based on context and perspective. While she brings into forefront, the ‘pamphleteer’ role of Milton, she often struggles to convey the depth, the details and the adventurous self of Milton that comes out evidently through his poetry. However, her statement about the description of paradise “Milton could also write paradise; he could make the reader understand, to feel, what Satan was drawn to destroy” illustrates that it could be a conscious effort on her part to bring out the lesser known role of Milton as a pamphleteer. Overall, Ann provides a realistic picture of Milton’s life, difficulties, and the combination of his personal life with the political scenario and highlights her attempts at retrieving his role as a pamphlet writer and patriot. Paradise Lost is regarded as an epic work of Milton and most often, Milton is known as the author of paradise lost. Even though Paradise Lost describes the Biblical story of Adam and Eve and their fall from paradise, it is often regarded as a political allegory through which Milton reflects on the politics of his time. Critics consider Milton’s work as a political allegory due to two different reasons. On one hand, they find a similarity in style in between his explicit political pamphlets and Paradise Lost in terms of arguments as well as style of writing. In addition, the characters as well as the events also align to the political scenario during which Milton lived. For example, it is very commonly noted that Paradise Lost is Milton’s response to what happened during and after the English Revolution. Milton has always been the advocate of righteous causes such as freedom of speech and relaxation of divorce laws. However, post the English revolution he saw that all the causes that he championed for were destroyed. Hence, he uses the references of the Bible, Adam, Eve, the Satan and the Snake to describe the scenario and hopes for redemption. Another view related to political allegory is that Milton considers Satan as Cromwell and that he compares the failed rebellion of Satan to the one of Cromwell. It is through the speeches of Satan that Milton brings out the distinct political echoes. For example, the address to the fallen angles expresses the clear sense of disappointment and gloom, which is actually reminiscent of his attitude towards the disappointment from the political situation. Is this the region, this the soil, the clime, […] That we must change for heaven, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? (I.242-5) (Milton,1674) Through these lines, he metaphorically hopes that there is a new tomorrow where there would be better acceptance to the ideals that he wanted to see implemented. He described the current era as gloomy but expressed hope for a better world in times to come through biblical allusions. Milton has very cleverly created the context of Paradise Lost in such a way that there would be stylistic resemblances to his political work. In a very noteworthy manner, Milton created the situation in Paradise Lost so that the characters find themselves in an environment that is inherently political (Carey, 1971). For example, in Book 1, the way in which he portrays the attempt of Satan to rouse the fallen angles shows his attitudes towards his aspiration and desire for the Cromwell led revolution to be successful. The stylistics and allusions that he uses to demonstrate the fall of angels as well as fall of man shows how there is a disrupted sense of harmony in between freedom and servitude. Satan, who is portrayed as a tragic hero in this work is open to interpretation in the political context. Satan can be considered as either as an extreme individualist, as the ruler of England or even for the Papacy. After having established Satan as a revolutionary legend, Milton could identify his own self or even Oliver Cromwell. Later, Satan is portrayed as a tyrant with a considerable level of charisma. Hence, Satan is often regarded as one of the most enigmatic characters ever created. With multiple levels of political parallels, gives enough contexts for the reader to get into the mode of an allegoric understanding. The famous debate that occurs in Book 2 of Paradise Lost is often considered to be the political and satirical debate the Milton often conducted during his younger days. It has also been noticed that the interaction that Adam and Eve have can prove to be fascinating from the context of politics of gender. The relationship between the interesting portrayal of God the Father and God the Son paves the way of understanding between the notions of kingship and how the power is passed on or delegated. Hence, the politics of rule and power has also been alluded to. There is no doubt that Paradise Lost indeed has a very inherent political connotation through its lines, however, the multiple levels of allegory often make the readers forget the specificity. This is true especially in the case of Satan where the character is represented in different types of allegorical metaphors that can be interpreted at multiple political levels. On one hand, Satan can be understood as a false saviour of the fallen angles, on the other, his stress on his will in the great debate can be the allusion to Charles I’s disrespect for the parliament. The character of Satan is also open for interpretation to that of revolutionary Milton or Oliver Cromwell during their days where they attempted to bring a reform to the regal system. In a very broader context, Satan can even be considered as the failure that was seen in the numerous political debacles during the era in which Milton lived. The theoretical protest or rebellion that Satan portrays can be related to the republican attitude that Milton strongly supported. The rebellion later moves on to be violent and in the end, Satan is shown as a tyrant, somewhat similar to Oliver Cromwell who went ahead to dissolve the Rump Parliament (Harding, 2007). In continuation with the political context, Paradise Lost can also be considered as an allusion to the social scenario of Restoration that happened in England. Therefore, it not only has a political allusion but it also represents different kinds of anti-papist imagery as well as anti-catholic allusions throughout the poem. Overall, it can be said that with various levels of allegory as well as sub-allegory, Milton’s Paradise Lost opens up in multiple layers of interpretation, from being autobiographical to political, from a rebellious response to expressing despair on how the situation turned out to be. References Carey, J., Fowler, A (1971), The Poems of John Milton, London Harding, P (2007), "Milton’s Serpent and the Pagan Birth of Error", SEL Studies in English Literature 47 (1): 161–177 Milton, J (1674), Paradise Lost (2nd ed.), London: S. Simmons Read More