John Milton was one of England’s most controversial, celebrated, and reviled writers. As the course title suggests, we will study Milton’s poetry and prose within the context of the many revolutions in which he was a major figure: revolutions in politics, theology, poetics, and philosophy. One of our goals will be to examine not only how Milton–and the culture in which he was embedded–constructed meaning but also why it is important for us to undertake such an examination. We will read works from many of the different genres in which Milton wrote: sonnets, epic (Paradise Lost), masque, polemical prose tracts, pastoral elegy, etc. We will also consider the richly generative contradictions that informed both the author’s oeuvre and his character. With careful attention to textual analysis, students will share Milton’s engagement with the complexity and versatility of language, literature, and culture.
