Option A: the serious choice
John Ruskin wrote, "all the pure and noble arts of peace are founded on war; no great art ever yet rose on earth, but among a nation of soldiers. There is no art among a shepherd people, if it remains at peace. There is no art among an agricultural people, if it remains at peace. Commerce is barely consistent with fine art; but cannot produce it. Manufacture not only is unable to produce it, but invariably destroys whatever seeds of it exist. There is no great art possible to a nation but that which is based on battle" (Crown of Wild Olive, 1866). Arising out of the English Revolution and Commonwealth period, Paradise Lost (1667) certainly fulfills Ruskin’s conditions for great art. How did the experience of war shape Milton’s imagination? Clearly he lamented its human cost, but does a commitment like Milton’s to the freedom of the spirit almost necessitate a warlike vigilance? How does warfaring become a metaphor of the life of the Christian poet? What is a poet’s function in time of war? Is a just nation always poised for battle? Can the "pure and noble arts of peace" be deceptive and seditious? What, then, would it mean to speak of "the peace of God, which passes all understanding"? Consider Milton’s prose and poetry through the first half of Paradise Lost. Is Ruskin right that great art requires great tension and great risk?
Option B: the book lover’s option
Browse the Thomason Tracts (3 November 1640 to 23 April 1661) online. Consider speeches made in Parliament, tracts on religious issues, popular literature, gossip from the court, sermons, political jeremiads, news reports, accounts of battles, negotiations, and intrigues. Check the topical specimens drawn from STC II (Wing’s bibliography 1641-1700, but concentrate on Milton’s lifetime).
Locate and read several short works that illuminate Milton’s writings for you. Research the background to these works, if necessary, and discuss how this context improves your understanding of Milton.
Five pages, typed, double-spaced. Due in class on Friday, April 3rd.