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Milton is also critical to the intellectual history of certain Western ideas which we take for granted. His Aeropagetica articulates the first (at least in Engl
by eszed 3y ago
Milton is also critical to the intellectual history of certain Western ideas which we take for granted. His Aeropagetica articulates the first (at least in English) full-throated defense of free speech, and his proposal and defense of (effectively) no-fault divorce acknowledge perforce the essential equality of men and women.
(Don't be distracted by Milton's own inability to demonstrate fidelity to either ideal - especially not the second. The logical consequences of his assertions are radically modern, whether or not he fully appreciated them.)
- ChocMontePy 3y agoI had the strange experience of reading all of Paradise Lost and finding it very understandable, but having the opposite experience with Aeropagetica, where I had to give up because I couldn't understand what he was saying. Prose should normally be more comprehensible than poetry, but something about the organization of Milton's prose sentences made it very difficult for me to follow.
- eszed 3y agoI agree. The difficulty (in my opinion) is largely because he's writing in direct response to particular critics, and without necessarily giving a precis of their arguments. (The occasional vituperative barb - and he could be mean - is only slight relief.) He also feels compelled to drive into the ground every. single. last. objection. that anyone might have. A good critical edition can help with the former problem (and with his penchant for including long, long untranslated quotations in the many, many languages he knew), but nothing can help with the latter. Contemporaries found him hard to read, too.