Better than others: Eighteenth century reactionism, elitism, and paradise lost

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

10 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

08/11/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Literature

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Summary :

Introduction
The opposition to the crown
1. The explosion in popularity of pamphlets and newspapers
2. Leaders forced to acknowledge the consent of the governed
The concept of the 'gentleman's education'
1. The non practical, rarefied, and abstract nature of an Oxford or Cambridge education
The early eighteenth century reactions to Paradise Lost
1. Richard Bentley's attack on Pope's 'pretty poem'
2. The gentleman scholar
Alienating the text from average popular reader
1. Re-establishment of the stable monarchy
2. Patrick Hume's annotations on Tonson's edition of Paradise Lost
3. Evolution of the understanding of scholarship and education
Making Paradise Lost appealing to the 'polite' audience
This push towards literacy
The Romantic rejection of the conservative brand of popular education
Conclusion

Abstract

The eighteenth-century adoption of paradise lost-and its continuing permanent position-into the canon of English "classics" is a testament to Milton's genius for subtlety and intertextuality. The combination of classical sources, contemporaneous politics, symbolism, sexuality and didactic instruction all had varying degrees of nuance, perfectly suited for the burgeoning field of literary criticism. It is precisely the inaccessibility of paradise lost, and the large amount of erudition required to properly understand its influences, which contributed to its popularity. If, as Thomas Vogler observed, "the perennial goal of historical thought can be seen to be a mode of self-definition in the form of a narrative in which a 'modernity' defines itself over against a past perceived as essentially different," then paradise lost is no exception. The focus of Miltonic scholarship is, to a large extent, a reaction against the previous generation's reverence. One constant, however, is that each generation appreciates the elitism of Milton's greatest work.