JOHN MILTON (1608 1674)

Undoubtedly the greatest of all the Puritan

writers, John Milton was the only great poet
capable of representing and expressing in his
works the true spirit of the age

BIOGRAPHY

1608 Born in London into a wealthy Puritan

family;
1637 European tour;
1649 Secretary for Foreign Languages in
Cromwell's Council of State;
1642 Marriage with Mary Powell, the daughter
of a Royalist;

1651 Blindness;

Arrested as a defender of the Commonwealth;

1674 Died in London

WORKS

Paradise Lost (1667), his masterpiece

Paradise Regained (1671)

Samson Agonistes (1671)

PARADISE LOST (1667)

A religious epic poem

12 books about the biblical story of Adam
and Eve, with God, and Satan
Ptolemaic system
Certainty of evil, hope for redemption and
belief in Divine Prividence

Satan: an epic hero?

Satan = Milton's rebel soul

Elevated style (blank verse, polysyllabic

latinism, inversions, circumlocution)

DANTE VS MILTON

Dante

Milton

Satan:

Satan:

a means of
punishment;
a mythic monster,
dwelling in the very
lowest circle of Hell,
the City of Dis, in the
centre of the earth,
where is bound in
ice for all eternity

a twofold symbol of
God's eternal
justice;
Several forms: a
fallen angel; an
animal of pray; the
classical form of a
snake with red eyes
and a yellow neck