ENGL 3290

Milton: Political Revolution and Paradise Lost

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2020-2021.

Was Milton a revolutionary poet? During the English civil war, he wrote radical political pamphlets defending regicide, divorce, unlicensed printing, and religious dissent. Yet he also saw himself as the epic poet of English Protestantism. Modern readers tend to separate these two aspects of his writing but, for Milton, poetry was crucial to proper governance. In this course, we'll focus on how Milton reconciled the dual imperatives to resist illegitimate rule and to obey true authority. We'll learn about the poetic and rhetorical techniques that Milton used to distinguish paradox from contradiction, action from activity, and dissent from rebellion.  And we'll consider the importance of this kind of thinking to political action and public life. This course may be used as one of the three pre-1800 courses required of English majors.

When Offered Fall.

Breadth Requirement (HB)
Distribution Category (LA-AS, ALC-AS)
Satisfies Requirement This course may be used as one of the three pre-1800 courses required of English majors.

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