Individual Post 1: Historical Information/Quotation

We've discussed the events that occurred during Milton's time in class today, and I thought I'd expand on it a little bit more, so that I can relate it to what I'm trying to come down to, and have everyone who reads this to be on the same page with me.

Milton went through a difficult period throughout his life. He's endured the turbulent times of politics, war, and religion during the English civil war and the likes of the tyranny of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, and Charles II's reign, not to mention the deaths of two wives as well as two of his five children. He's found himself blind at the age of 44 with three children to raise, including trying to avoid being captured from Parliament for some time before his name could be cleared. He's lived through the financial distresses of England's economy and the Great Fire of London. (1)

Through personal, political, financial, and religious difficulties, one wonders how Milton was able to produce such astounding literary works. We could contribute it to his skill as a great writer, well-versed in the classics and quite knowledgeable on so many levels of his education. But what if there was something else? Could it have been his life experiences – the political turmoils, the religious factors and so on and so forth – to them of which he owes his inspiration, a possible driving force behind the lines of Paradise Lost?

This leads me to believe in a theory that perhaps matters of a dark substance, be it in life events,

Perhaps substances associated with violence may help enhance one to reach deeply into one's soul and procure the very thing of which great ideas may have originated from.

Is it possible that Milton, as a skilled writer, be able to write works such as Paradise Lost as an

Come to think of it, I do recall a time this past summer when a cousin of mine was able to write her novel as she listened repeatedly to a song by Damien and Stephen Marley's titled "It Was Written". Could it prove true with others, I wonder? The song does have a dark melody to it, that I find useful and inspirational as I am currently listening to it, while writing this post. I've embedded the link below from YouTube, so anyone can listen to it if they haven't.



But that is another story. I actually wanted to get to the very point of what I was trying to reach, and I thought it useful if I enclosed a little about the events that took place in Milton's lifetime.

There is no doubt that Milton possessed a brilliant mind. Equipped with the tools he needed, he's managed to have produced great literary works such as Paradise Lost, of which he is most famous for, in my opinion. The following are the five lines, which are familiar to me, and I'd like to expand on it.
What though the field be lost?
All is not lost: the' unconquerable will
And study of revenge, immortal hate
And courage never to submit or yield --
And what is else not to be overcome (1.105-09)?
Could Milton have made that statement as some sort of advice, some sort of reassuring words of wisdom that he was sending to himself -- to reassure himself that all is not lost? Could Milton have written those lines as a means of holding on? Many might have claimed that he was a rigid Protestant who believed in his faith, in what the Bible had to say, but what if he was having doubts about his faith? Why else would he have written a book that seems to portray Satan as the protagonist? What if he saw himself as Satan in the novel? Satan was once a beautiful angel with the much acclaimed status and power. Milton was once well-to-do. Born to privileges and an education any scholar would have envied him for, then suddenly reduced to the economic throes of man, would he not have likened himself to Satan? If he did endow his sufferings as a part of the "Eternal Providence" of God's plan, would he not have hated it? Would he not have blamed the Almighty and used Paradise Lost as something to avenge his sufferings? Was it a mind game, with the "courage to never submit or yield"? Mentioned earlier, Paradise Lost does seem to portray Satan as the protagonist, and God as the evil tyrant who lacks mercy and forgiveness to those who has wronged Him. Milton hated tyranny. Would crying out in pain or moping about and submitting to desperation and suicide allow him to avenge his Maker? Of course not! Has he complained about his sufferings? We'll never know. But let's just say, that doing so would have meant he lost the battle. These five lines, I thought, might have meant him refusing to succumb to the difficulties of his life, and in order to make it easier for him, would find ways to incorporate it into his literary work of Paradise Lost. With "courage never to submit or yield", would voicing these out allow him to hold on to whatever remained of his strength to defy God?

What if his faith was weakening, but he did not want to show it? A few lines in Paradise Lost that I would like to refer to at this point:
Fall'n cherub, to be weak is miserable
Doing or suffering, but of this be sure:
To do aught good will never be our task
But ever to do ill our sole delight
As being the contrary to His high will
Whom we resist (1.157-62).
Could he have directed those words to himself? Could he have seen the Anglican church's ways of good works in order to get to Heaven, something he could have referred to those lines 157-162? Included in that phrase, the word 'suffering' could be directed to to the Protestant church who believed that faith alone could get them to Heaven? "To do aught good will never be our task" -- could he have referred that to the Anglican church, who believed that good works and faith will get you into Heaven? Did he delight himself in doing ill will by opposing both churches? He most certainly must have, considering he went against them. In order to avoid being persecuted by both the Protestant and the Anglican church, he probably sided with the one whose ideas were less of a threat to him.

One could liken this to Leonardo da Vinci's supposed hidden meaning behind the painting of "The Last Supper", that implied a love affair between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Da Vinci could not express it in his time, for fear of imprisonment and possible execution. Could Milton have done the same, except only expressing it through his writing?

Citations: (1) Biography was summarized from: Lewalski’, Barbara K., “The Life of John Milton”. London 2000, which can be found in the first few introductory pages from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, A Norton Critical Edition, and edited by Gordon Teskey

Marjorie D.