| Was John Milton a revolutionary, a feminist, a romantic, a hero and an iconoclast? Or was he conservative, misogynist, and heterodox? What is radical literature and what purposes does it serve? Through reading Milton’s prose and poetry (including Paradise Regain’d, A Masque, and On Education, among others) we will explore the important critical disagreement about how to understand Milton’s writing. The course will also explore the representation of Milton and his work by the Romantic poets, especially Blake and will give some attention to modern critical interpretations as well. |