John Milton-new1.pptVIP

Paradise Lost --- Milton Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. 上天堂尽职，不如下地狱独裁 John Milton(1608-1674) Life Political Background Works Life Experience John Milton was born in December, 1608, London, England. Miltons parents had six children, and Milton was one of the three who survived. He entered Christs College, Cambridge at 16. Perhaps the best student in his class, Milton received his B.A. in 1629 and M.A. in 1632. Milton was proficient in Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and was an excellent swordsman. Milton had gone to Cambridge to become a clergyman, but he was dissuaded from this occupation due to tyranny in the church. So, Milton spent the 6 years after getting his M.A. reading the Greek and Latin classics, and studying mathematics and music. Life experience In 1642, at the age of 34, Milton married Mary Powell, age 17. Sadly, his wife ran away, and Milton proceeded to write his famous treatise advocating divorce. He and his wife reconciled in 1645, and Miltons daughter Anne was born in 1646. Life experience He was appointed Latin secretary to Cromwell’s council of State in 1649, and became blind in 1652 due to overwork. That year his only son and wife died, leaving him a blind widower with three children. He remarried in 1656, but she died in childbirth a year later, ending the happiest time in Miltons life. In the following years Milton wrote against the Royalists. Milton’s literary achievements can be divided into 3 groups: 早期诗作、中期散文小册子、后期著名诗歌 1. the early poetic works 2. the middle prose pamphlets 3. the last great poems. The 1st Stage: Lycidas The 1st period: Lycidas (1637)《列西达斯》 a collection of elegies dedicated to Edward King, a fellow undergraduate of Milton’s at Cambridge, who was drowned in the Irish sea. With the bitter sense of loss, Milton asks why the just and good should suffer. These emotions swell to a passionate call for the consolation of art. The feelings begin in a low key but move on to the la