John milton

(1608—1674)

John Milton ['dson 'miltan] is considered to be the greatest poet of the English Bourgeois Revolution. He was the son of a London scrivener¹. He was sent to St. Paul's School in London, where he studied Greek and Latin classics. He studied hard and at the age of sixteen went to Cambridge University. There he took both Bachelor's and Master's degrees. He also began to write poetry in Latin.

After the University he lived on his father's estate in a little village of Horton, where he gave himself up to study and poetry. In 1638 Milton left Horton for travel in France, Switzerland and Italy. While in Italy he visited the famous scientist Galileo [gasli-'leiou]. In 1639 he returned to London and occupied himself for a time as a tutor.

In the 1640's Milton wrote pamphlets supporting the Indepen­dents². Milton made Europe understand that the Revolution was the only force which could give the English people freedom. In 1649 he was appointed Latin secretary to Oliver Cromwell's Council of State for whom he translated diplomatic papers from and into Latin.

After Cromwell's death in 1660 monarchy was restored in Eng­land. Milton's pamphlets were burnt. He moved to a small house near London and returned to poetry. He was blind now and had to dictate his greatest works "Paradise Lost" (1667) and "Paradise Regained" (1671) to his three daughters. When the poet died he wasburied in Westminster Abbey.

Milton was popular in his own age and throughout the XVIII century he was widely imitated. Nowadays his work can also be enjoyed.

"Paradise Lost" is an epic poem, written in blank verse, in iambic pentameter. It treats of a biblical theme, but it is revolu­tionary in spirit. The poem shows the struggle between God and Satan in the Universe. God is a tyrant. He is cruel and he punishes. Satan, the hero of the poem, embodies the uncrushed spirit of the Revolution. He revolts against God, and is driven out of Heaven to Hell. Glad to be free, he addresses his new home Hell, saying:

Receive thy new possessor, one who brings A mind not to be changed by place or time, The mind in its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

¹ a clerk who copied documents and wrote letters for other people

² a more revolutionary party of the Puritans; they wanted to do away with the Church and overthrow the monarchy. Oliver Cromwel became the leader of the Independents.

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Satan plans to work against God by causing the downfall of his first human creatures Adam and Eve. God has forbidden them to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Satan comes to Paradise at night, turns into a serpent, and next morning addresses Eve and

advises her to taste the fruit:

,. in that day

Ye¹ eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear, Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then Opened and cleared, ye shall be as gods Knowing both good and evil as they know.

Milton's Adam and Eve are people who are proud, who love

the truth and wisdom.

... what are gods that man may not become as they?

Eve thinks these words over and eats the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve are punished and must leave Paradise. But they are full of energy and ready to meet all hardships on the Earth. They are brave and attractive people, eager to know the world. Milton seems to be on their side.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

The literature of the XVIII century was conditioned by the social and political situation in the country. During the XVIII cen­tury British prosperity increased. Britain had many colonies, she had wars with other European countries — Holland, France and Spain — for a commanding position in India and America. Though Britain was still essentially an agricultural country, in­dustry also developed rapidly. The commercial classes became active. They attempted to bring the king's power under Parlia­ment's control. They formed a party called "Whigs" [wigz]¹. In 1688 the middle class (the bourgeoisie) forced the king to rule through Parliament. It was called the "Glorious Revolution". Now wealth was the main motivating power in society. Men be­came more civilized and rational. The middle class people as­sumed a foremost place in English life and history.

London developed into the centre of wealth and civilization, and became the heart of the literary and intellectual life of the country. Writers looked upon London as their chief audience.

The middle class found its ideal social centre in the coffee­houses². People went there to exchange news, to conduct business or to whisper political secrets and hold serious religious, philo­sophical and literary discussions. Each rank and profession had its own coffee-house.

¹ The landowners' party was called "Tories". Both parties hated each other, but their policy did not differ much.

² England traded with many countries. The import of coffee and tea led

to the establishment of coffeehouses.

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The writers of the day were dependent on the new reading public which had never before been greatly interested in literature. In previous periods the number of readers was comparatively small. Authors wrote largely for the upper classes. In the XVIII century the spread of education and the appearance of newspapers and magazines led to the increase of readers.

The main interest in that time was in man and in the origin of his good and evil qualities. Men began to feel that society had a great influence on them and that it could be reformed. They wanted to improve the world by teaching it.

The fiction writers of the XVIII century started a movement for enlightening the people.

The movement of the Enlightenment was led by the bourgeoisie who hated feudalism, insisted upon education for all and fought for self-government. Although the English writers had no such revolutionary aims as the Russian or French Enlighteners had, the literature of this period was very much a.public literature. It re­presented the outlook and values of the bourgeoisie. The new middle class took to buying and selling books. In 1702 the first daily newspaper was established. Comedy, satire, essays, political pamphlets and criticism were very popular. The novel became the leading form of literature..[.This century was a period of great experimentation in the novel. The novel was used to teach_ huma,n_ kinHiig^s, to frame a philosophical or political idea, to enlighten.-jeic^^rhe hero of the.novel was a representative of the middle class^ iH3.jn.pst characteristic features were reason and common sense^J

'The student of literature when he passes in "his reading from" the age of Shakespeare and Milton to that of Defoe, Swift and Burns, will see certain differences between the styles and the writers of the two periods. The chief literary phenomena of the XVIII century were the reign of Classicism and Sentimentalism, the revival of romantic poetry, and the discovery of the modern"}-novelT3 \

The English classicists¹, whose greatest representative was A. Pope, cultivated in their works formal elegance, balance and control of emotions. They revived the principles of antique Greek and Roman literature and observed strict rules in their writing.

Towards the middle of the century a new literary trend, Senti­mentalism, appeared. It marked a new stage in the evolution of the Enlightenment. The greatest representatives of the trend were S. Richardson, O. Goldsmith and L. Sterne. They appealed to the hearts of people and made them sympathize with their heroes. The Sentimentalists strove for primitive patriarchal life and rejected bourgeois civilization in towns.

¹ Classicism — a movement in art and literature which arose in the

17. century in France. In other European countries it spread only in the

18. century.

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Whatever literary trends and movements appeared in the XVIII century all the writers of the Enlightenment aimed at the simplicity of style, truth to nature, reason, clarity, conversational ease and directness. They preferred the language of country-men and merchants to that of scholars and princes. They conveyed ideas which the mass of men would readily understand.

The English writers of the time formed two groups. Those who hoped to better the world by teaching it belonged to one group, though their works differed greatly. These were: Daniel Defoe ['dsnjal da'fou], Alexander Pope [,aslig'za;nda 'poupj, Samuel Richardson ['saemjual 'ritjadsnj, Laurence Sterne ['brans 'stsmj.

The other group included the writers who openly protested against the vicious social order. They were: Jonathan Swift [Мзэпэвэп 'swift], Henry Fielding ['henri 'fiildirj], Oliver Gold­smith ['Dliva 'gouIdsmiB], Richard Sheridan ['ritjsd 'Jeridn], Ro­bert Burns ['robgt 'Ьэ:пг].