Comus - John Milton

Advantages: Classic literature; challenging
Disadvantages: Difficult to grasp; Lengthy

...John and Bill (a.k.a John Milton and William Shakespeare) were both Ben Elton’s of their time. You might think that Shakespeare and Milton are old cronies who wrote in funny English which no one can understand, hundreds of years ago, about love and boring wars. Well, breaking news here, they both also had a wicked sense of humour and questionable morals? They were Damion Hirst’s of their times. Controversial. We love controversy and we, as a human race, are curious enough to want to find out what all the fuss is about. Then more likely than not, we’ll judge the controversy for ourselves and say, “What the hell was all the fuss all about?". So why talk about Bill when I’m supposed to be just talking about John? People are more likely to have read or watched a William Shakespeare play, than read... Read review

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Advantages: A great English epic
Disadvantages: none

..., with the object coming first and the verb coming after. Milton follows many classical examples by personifying characters such as Death, Chaos, Mammon, and Sin. These characters interact with the more traditional Christian characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, various angels, and God. He takes as his basis the basic biblical text of the creation and fall of humanity (thus, 'Paradise Lost'), which has taken such hold in the English-speaking world that many images have attained in the popular mind an almost biblical truth to them (in much the same way that popular images of Hell owe much to Dante's Inferno). The text of Genesis was very much in vogue in the mid-1600s (much as it is today) and Paradise Lost attained an almost instant acclaim. John Milton was an English cleric, a protestant who nonetheless had a great affinity for catholic Italy... Read review

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Advantages: poetry
Disadvantages: dull poetry

..."Milton was of the Devil's party without knowing it," William Blake. In the movie National Lampoon's Animal House, an English Literature professor nicely underplayed by Donald Sutherland admits he finds John Milton's Paradise Lost heavy going. "I think Milton is just as boring as you do," he tells blank-faced students during a lecture. "Mrs Milton thought he was boring too." It's a scene which neatly sums up John Milton's popular reputation today - dull and unreadable. In part it's a cross of his own making as a strait-laced Puritan who seemingly knew everything except how to have fun. Saying that, his life did have its moments; he went blind and composed poetry at night by calling out lines to his trusty servant, he advocated divorce at a time when it was deeply unfashionable, he approved of the execution of Charles I... Read review

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