English 420—Milton Dr. Michael Bryson Sierra Tower 832 818-677-5695 michael.bryson@csun.edu

Course Description: Is authority—even God’s authority—to be obeyed without question?  John Milton, the most famous “Christian” poet in the English language, has a definite answer. No. Milton is perhaps the greatest, yet least-read and least-understood poet in English literature.  He was not a stuffy Puritan with a heart of stone; rather, he was a learned and passionate revolutionary who demanded freedom of thought and freedom from political, religious, and social tyranny. Milton did not suffer fools, and he did not suffer others telling him what to do, what to think, or how to live. In this course, we will examine the ideas of the man who helped bring down a kingdom and behead a king, only later to write the great poetry of Satan, God, Adam, Eve, and the Fall of Man.  We will read some of his early poetry, move through a quick examination of his prose-writing career, and then ascend the summit of the great epic, Paradise Lost.

Texts: John Milton: Complete Poems and Major Prose ed. Merritt Hughes

Assignments:
1) Reading journals (a minimum of 1 page per week of reaction/commentary/analysis in response to that week's reading selections, to be due at the beginning of each class, beginning with the readings for week 2. No late work accepted for the journals). These are graded strictly on a pass/fail basis.
2) Midterm essay exam (5-7 pages in response to questions I will distribute in class. You will have two weeks to work on the exam out of class)
3) Final paper (8-10 pages on a topic of your choosing)

Statement on Academic Dishonesty: Plagiarism is a serious offense that will be treated seriously. Please read the CSUN policy here.

Weekly Preview:

Week 1 (1/28): Milton’s Early Ambition—Sonnet VII (Sonnet numbers are keyed to the Hughes edition--other editions may vary).

Week 2 (2/4): Early Poetic Successes and Failures—On the Morning of Christ's Nativity, The Passion, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso. Theological Arguments for Liberty and Against Hierarchies that Separate Humankind from the Divine—Of Education, The Reason of Church Government (Preface and Chapters 1-7 of Book 1).

Week 3 (2/11): The Loss of a Schoolmate, Growing Commitment to Liberty, and the Idea of Companionate Marriage—Lycidas, Sonnet VIII, Sonnet XI, Sonnet XII, Doctrine of Discipline and Divorce (up to book II)

Week 4 (2/18): Freedom to Write and Worship According to One’s Own Conscience—Areopagitica, On the New Forcers of Conscience, Sonnet XVI, Sonnet XVIII.

Week 5 (2/25): Milton the Regicide (The Right to be Free From the Tyranny of Kings)—Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.

Week 6 (3/3): Milton’s Work for the Republic—The Second Defense (excerpts), Sonnet XIX, Sonnet XXII, Sonnet XXIII (Midterm essay exam distributed—due 10/22).

Week 7 (3/10): “Of man’s first disobedience,” and Angelic Rebellion: “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.” Why?—Paradise Lost Books 1 and 2.

Spring Break (3/17)

Week 8 (3/24): Imagining God as a King, and Male and Female in the Garden of Eden—Is Adam and Eve’s a Companionate Marriage?—Paradise Lost Books 3 and 4 (Midterm essay exam due).

Cesar Chavez Holiday (3/31)

Week 9 (4/7): War in Heaven: Rebellion Against a King—Paradise Lost Books 5 and 6.

Week 10 (4/14): The Structure of the Universe; Food and the Ascent to Heaven?—Paradise Lost Books 7-9.

Week 11 (4/21):The Fall: A Setup? Plus History of the World, Part One: A Paradise Within Thee, Happier Far—Paradise Lost Books 10-12 .

Week 12 (4/28):—Discovering the Divine Within—De Doctrina Christiana (chapter on God), Paradise Regained.

Week 13 (5/5): Claiming to Act in the Name of God—Samson Agonistes (Paper due 5/12).

Note on Web Resources
The best overall web resource for Milton is Thomas Luxon's Milton Reading Room. See especially his links to other web resources, and to print scholarship (vanity alert—you'll find me on that list). For the prose works, you may also want to look at my own site, Summary and Analysis of Milton's Prose.