John milton biography summary worksheet answers

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England had had the opportunity to become an instrument of God's plan, but ultimately failed to realize itself as the New Israel. Now blind, and closely associated with the Commonwealth, Milton might have been wise to keep a low profile as the return of the monarchy loomed. As “Secretary for Foreign Tongues” Milton published several defenses of the English commonwealth, the regicide of Charles I and the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.



The authors stress Milton’s courage during the Restoration of the English monarchy.

During those time, Cromwell’s Commonwealth was highly criticized.

  • In order to defend Cromwell, Milton wrote Eikonoklastes and Defensio pro populo Anglicano.
  • During his separation with Mary, Milton wrote The Divorce Tracts, a series of publications supporting the idea of divorce.
  • In 1659, after the death of Cromwell, Milton was imprisoned for his contributions to the fall of Charles I and support of Cromwell’s Commonwealth.

    His father was a composer and a devout Catholic.

  • Young John attended St. Paul’s School and Christ’s College in Cambridge. All three men had their ears cut off; one, William Prynne, also had his nose slit open and his cheeks branded. His poetry would, on the other hand, serve England by putting before it noble and religious ideas in the highest poetic form.

    Indeed, it was a moral and political treatise, a poetic explanation for the course that English history had taken.

    Milton began Paradise Lost in 1658 and finished in 1667. In passing, Campbell and Corns suggest that John Milton senior may even be the author of an anonymous commendatory poem published in the front matter to Shakespeare’s First Folio.

    Unlike the learned classicists of his day, who imitated Greek and Latin versification, Milton sought to rehabilitate the English poetic tradition by establishing it as an extension or flowering of the classical tradition. However, it has also widely been acknowledged that much of Milton’s earlier poetry is not especially Puritan in character: indeed, it betrays a fondness for hierarchy and ritual typical of the Puritans’ archenemies, the conservative High Church Anglicans.

    Campbell and Corns resolve this contradiction by adducing evidence to show that Milton grew up in a much more religiously conservative household than was previously thought.

    john milton biography summary worksheet answers

    That is, he was telling them why they had failed to establish the good society by deposing the king, and why they had welcomed back the monarchy. Instead, he published several passionate tracts in defense of republicanism. He saw himself as a poet whose lineage extended, through the Romans, back to the Greeks. Campbell and Corns set out the ongoing debate about the poem.

    The epic poet chronicles the religious history of a people; he plays the role of prophet-historian. Paradise Lost was more than a work of art. By 1638, he travelled to France and Italy where he likely met Galileo. Log in to download.

    • See the fact file below for more information on John Milton or alternatively, you can download our 22 page John Milton worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

    Key Facts

    Early Life and Family

    • John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in London, England, to John Milton and Sarah Jeffrey.

      Along with Shakespeare's plays, Milton's Paradise Lost is the most influential poem in English literature as well as the basis for many aspects of modern poetic theory.

    Delve into the life and enduring legacy of one of English literature's most influential figures.

    In addition, he also published Samson Agonistes, showing how Samson succumbed to temptation and redeemed himself.

    Death and Legacy

    • Later in his life, Milton wrote textbooks like the Art of Logic and A History of Britain.