John Milton: The Era Of English Literature

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John Milton is one of the renowned writers of the era of English literature. John Milton (1608-1674) ranks among the greatest poets of the English language. He is indeed placed right after William Shakespeare due to his remarkable creations. He was born on the 9th of December, 1608 in Bread Street, Cheapside, London and died on the 8th November, 1674. When he was born, at the same time Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Francis Bacon were still writing in their own way and glory. But, Milton later gone through and studied Latin, Greek and Hebrew literature like no one did before. His skills and knowledge about these literatures later revived the spirit of Renaissance once again. He is best known for the epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), but he also…show more content…
They thought that their religion and the church need to be purified. So, they started to preach Puritanism throughout England. The Puritans were influential in the early English settlement of America and in the civil war and revolution of the 17th century. They were influential in the field of literature also. Puritanism dominated England from 1600 to 1660 and that’s why, it is called the Puritan Age. It is also called as the Age of Milton as Milton was the noblest representative of the Puritan spirit. Though he was a Puritan, he was free from the narrow-mindedness of the Puritan culture. He didn’t believe in hatred and he loved his passion for various languages and literatures. The Puritan movement in literature can be considered as the second and greater Renaissance, as many intellectuals were active with their outstanding literary works which later on helped in awakening of Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Though the Renaissance brought with it culture, it was mostly controversial and it needed some sort of moral sobriety and profundity which were contributed by the Puritan movement. The Puritan movement stood for liberty of the people, who were oppressed by the ruler and it also introduce the people with the teachings of morality and high ideals in politics. Thus it had two objects—personal righteousness and civil and religious liberty. In other words, it…show more content…
This age was a turn down for the literature, as the Puritans didn’t like any kind of literary activities and they were against of all kinds of entertainments including poetry or any literary works. However, still Milton continued his work. But, as the Puritans were against these forms of entertainments, they shut down and closed all the theatres in 1642. But, a great improvement in the writing of prose was noticeable. The prose of this age was cultivated in a style very different from the Elizabethan and Sixteenth century prose. The prose writers used a grand style which Bacon and Hooker never anticipated. It was loose in structure, over colored, elaborate and rebellious. The most prominent prose writers of this period were Robert Burton, Sir Thomas Browne, Jeremy Taylor, Thomas Fuller, Jack Walton and John Milton. In this age, many books were written regarding history, philosophy, politics, etc. Milton wrote the “Areopagitica” at that time. “The Authorized Versions of the Bible” was also translated and published in this age, in 1611. “The Authorized Versions of the Bible” had an enormous influence not only on the lives of the Protestants and the Puritans for whom it represented as a Book of Law, but also on the development of the English language and English prose forms on account of its concrete, economic and solemn style. As far as the field of poetry is concerned, the poets were also influenced by the
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