ENGL3134

Milton’s three great Restoration poems—Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes—are the focus of this course. We’ll approach them by tracing Milton’s growth as poet: first, by familiarizing ourselves with the religious and social ideas found in his writings down to the Poems of 1645; and second, by studying the political ideas Milton initially set forth in The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649). Concurrently with our study of these earlier works, you’ll be reading Paradise Lost, which you should complete by the end of the spring break. At that point, you’ll be in a position to interpret Milton’s three Restoration masterpieces in the light of his grand—and rebellious—aim of reforming England’s civil and religious community, an aim Milton boldly reaffirms in 1660 in defiance of the Restoration of monarchy.

01612

Periodic Fall & Spring