- Department: English and Related Literature
- Module co-ordinator: Prof. Brian Cummings
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) has remained at the centre of English literary traditions since its appearance, with an eighteenth and nineteenth century reputation that rivalled Shakespeare. Milton was, however, consummately, a writer of his time, capable by turns of rudeness, high-mindedness, impressive vitriol and at times reckless political intransigence. He was simultaneously a product of rigorous scholarly humanism, a dissenting and unbending Puritanism, and the political radicalism out of which both leveller and republican thought emerged. Milton was capable of uncompromising stances, noisily defending the execution of the king against those former parliamentary and Presbyterian allies who, if nothing else, were shocked at its gravity, and a decade later vigorously opposing the return of the monarchy, even when the republican cause was essentially lost. He was one of a very small and notorious band of supporters of the regicide who were not included in the general amnesty at the return of Charles II, and, forced out of any public role by both his reputation and blindness, he produced some of the most enigmatic, challenging and brilliant poems in English, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.
This course will look at all of the major poetry of Milton, considering their use of genre, gender, theology and politics, along with a range of the shorter poems and extracts from the prose, ranging across subjects as various as the freedom of the press, a justification of the regicide and a set of controversial divorce tracts. It will set Milton in the context of the theological and political upheavals of the civil war and restoration, and read his works in relation to some of his radical contemporaries, such as the leveller Putney Debates, Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and Lucy Hutchinson’s biblical epic, Order and Disorder.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
The aims of this module are to gain a substantial knowledge of a selection of writings by Milton and his contemporaries, with particular focus on the radical milieu in which his ideas were created and disseminated.
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Essay 3000 words |
N/A | 100 |
None
You will be given the opportunity to hand in a 1000 word formative essay in the term in which the module is taught (usually in the week 7 seminar). Material from this essay may be re-visited in your summative essay and it is therefore an early chance to work through material that might be used in assessed work.
This essay will be submitted in hard copy and your tutor will annotate it and return it two weeks later (usually in your week 9 seminar). Summary feedback will be uploaded to your eVision account.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Essay 3000 words |
N/A | 100 |
The Primary reading of the course will be Milton’s poetry and a selection of prose. We will look at Paradise Lost, in detail as well as Samson Agonistes, Paradise Regained and a range of the shorter poems. We will read his works in relation to some of his radical contemporaries, studied in extract where possible, such as the leveller Putney Debates, Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and Lucy Hutchinson’s biblical epic, Order and Disorder. We have consulted and will to continue to consult with Lisa Foggo to ensure that sufficient texts are available.