Characteristics of Puritan Literature and about John Milton.
Puritan Literature :
Puritan literature is a genre created by the Puritans, a religious movement which fought to remove the remnants of the Catholic Church from the Church of England. This led to conflict in England and to the founding of several colonies in the Americas, including settlements in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, and other parts of New England. The movement began in 1530 and lasted well into the 17th century.
Religion was the central tenet of Puritan life. The movement began as a way to reform the Church of England, and its practitioners believed in creating a covenant with God and being humble. Their communities were governed by religious doctrine, a concept which clashed with the emerging modernity of science and reason. For example, during the Salem Witch Trials, a famous Puritan and author named Cotton Mather urged the court to not simply accept hearsay as evidence for the charge of witchcraft and instead rely on hard evidence.
Puritan literature is the result of this movement and lifestyle. Much of it is in the form of letters and journals written by Puritans regarding their experiences. Puritan writing is primarily made up of sermons, poetry, and historical narratives, but Puritan writers created very little fiction. Much like their lifestyles, Puritans used simple, straightforward sentences when writing.
Puritanism :
If you're going to understand what Puritan literature is, you need to know a thing or two about Puritanism. Both rose to popularity in the 17th century in the New England area of the United States. Puritanism, as a religious movement, believed in cleansing the church of all of its remaining Roman Catholic ties. Its followers, dubbed Puritans, lived by a moral and religious code that not only influenced their own lives, but sought to impact the lives of everyone around them.
Even today, one of the simplest ways to impact the lives of people around the world is through the written word. Puritans understood that and undertook it with a goal of honoring God and the Bible through their work. Not surprisingly, authors of Puritan literature were deeply religious and wrote in such a way to make God become easier for everyone to understand and more relevant in their day-to-day lives. But, what else characterized Puritan literature? Plenty! Let's take a look at some of the central characteristics of this literary movement.
Characteristics of Puritan Literature:
Puritan literature was direct and focused on offering instruction from a Biblical point of view. However, there were many other central characteristics. Let's take a look at some of them:
Puritan literature relied on a first-person narrative. Puritan authors approached writing from a personal point of view, with many of their writings coming in the form of journals, diaries, and day-to-day experiences. By writing from a first-person perspective, thoughts are conveyed from the author speaking about him or herself.
Puritan literature relied on a religious, rather than an entertainment, theme. Puritans didn't believe in writing for entertainment; rather, they thought of writing as a tool to reach people with the story of God. Works focused on realistic messages illustrating the idea that everyone was born a sinner and that his or her salvation had been pre-determined, a concept known as predestination.
Puritan literature also relied on specific genres. Taking into account the first-person narrative and religious focus, most Puritan literature took the form of a sermon, poem, letter, or historical narrative. There was often an underlying purpose to these types of communications, illustrating their values and the importance of the Bible and God in their daily lives.
Puritan literature relied on a simple style of writing. Puritans lived simple lives, so it stands to reason that their style of writing would mimic the same pattern. Puritan authors used direct and simple language and sentence structure to convey their point, shunning the more elaborate style of writing that was popular in many circles at the time.
Puritan literature relied on Biblical allusions. Biblical allusions, or references to Biblical events or characters, were used heavily in Puritan writing. Many authors would compare themselves or current struggles to hardships endured by characters illustrated in the Bible.
Puritan literature relied on fear. In many works, authors relied on their readers' sense of fear about God and hell to effect change in the readers' minds and souls. By using fear to reach the readers, the author thought there was better potential for change. After all, sinners who did not conform to their religious beliefs were believed to be headed for an eternity of torment in hell.
About Writer of Puritan age :
Puritan authors preferred to write in first person and in as plain a style as possible. While they believed in sharing their experiences and beliefs, they also wanted to avoid drawing unwanted attention to themselves, hence the simple style which contrasted the more elaborate style popular in Europe. Writing was a major part of their lives, and even simple letters were treated as though they were instructive. Puritans did not believe literature was meant for entertainment.
Major Puritan writers produced works that have also become major works appreciated as literature and not just religious writings. This, of course, is highly ironic, as the idea of famous Puritans is antithetical for the concept of not drawing attention to oneself.
John Milton:
(1608-1674)
John Milton was born in London on December 9, 1608, into a middle-class family. He was educated at St. Paul’s School, then at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he began to write poetry in Latin, Italian, and English, and prepared to enter the clergy.
Milton intended to write in "a grand style." That style took the form of numerous references and allusions, complex vocabulary, complicated grammatical constructions, and extended similes and images.
Miltonic verse :
Milton's most notable works, including Paradise Lost, are written in blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter. He was not the first to use blank verse, which had been a mainstay of English drama since the 1561 play Gorboduc.
The three periods of Milton's literary works :
John Milton's career as a writer of prose and poetry spans three distinct eras: Stuart England; the Civil War (1642-1648) and Interregnum, including the Commonwealth (1649-1653) and Protectorate (1654-1660); and the Restoration.
Milton is best known for Paradise Lost.
It's widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in English.
Thus, Milton's grand style in Paradise Lost involves his high vocabulary. Modern poets do poetry for laymen. In fact, it has become their motto to write poetry for everyone. Simplicity is one of the key elements in their poems; however, symbolism remains there to extract meanings from words.John Milton, best known today for his epic poem Paradise Lost, was radically committed to the idea of intellectual liberty. This commitment manifested itself throughout his life, and across his widely varied written works, which included poetry, tracts, speeches, and unpublished, private writings.
Milton's theme is lofty and grand, his setting cosmic, and his style equally noble and exalted. This elevation has been accomplished by the use of a variety of instruments. There is an aversion to the mean, vulgar, and commonplace, as well as a preference for the uncommon and unfamiliar.
After the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, Milton was arrested as a defender of the Commonwealth, fined, and soon released. He lived the rest of his life in seclusion in the country, completing the blank-verse epic poem Paradise Lost in 1667, as well as its sequel Paradise Regained and the tragedy Samson Agonistes both in 1671. Milton oversaw the printing of a second edition of Paradise Lost in 1674, which included an explanation of “why the poem rhymes not,” clarifying his use of blank verse, along with introductory notes by Marvell. Milton died shortly afterwards, on November 8, 1674, in Buckinghamshire, England.
Paradise Lost, which chronicles Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Eden, is widely regarded as Milton’s masterpiece and one of the greatest epic poems in world literature. Since its first publication, the work has continually elicited debate regarding its theological themes, political commentary, and its depiction of the fallen angel, Satan, who is often viewed as the protagonist of the work. The epic has had wide-reaching effect, inspiring other long poems, such as Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, William Wordsworth’s The Prelude and John Keats’s Endymion, as well as Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. It has also deeply influenced the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Blake, who illustrated an edition of Paradise Lost.
Works : Poetry and Drama
- 1629: On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity
- 1630: On Shakespeare
- 1631: On Arriving at the Age of Twenty-Three
- 1632: L’Allegro
- 1632: Il Penseroso
- 1634: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, commonly known as Comus (a masque)
- 1637: Lycidas
- 1645: Poems of Mr John Milton, Both English and Latin
- 1652: When I Consider How My Light is Spent
- 1655: On the Late Massacre in Piedmont
- 1667: Paradise Lost
- 1671: Paradise Regained
- 1671: Samson Agonistes
- 1673: Poems, &c, Upon Several Occasions
- Arcades: a masque (date is unknown)
Conclusion:
Milton is often considered not just a Puritan poet, but one of the greatest English poets of all time. His works espouse Puritanical views, and his 1667 ''magnum opus'', Paradise Lost, showed his optimism in humanity despite the failure of the Puritan Revolution.
(Word count : 1555 words)
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