The Age of Milton and Its Influence on His Life and Works
Introduction
The life and age of Milton is seen to be considerably influenced by the age in which he lived; similarly his poems bear unmistakable traces of the spirit of the age in which he lived. Milton lived in particularly stirring times, and his intelligence and his imagination were considerably influenced by conflicting principles in politics, in religion and in social life.
Influence of the spirit of the Renaissance
The two great influences that worked upon the poetic career of Milton were the spirit of the Renaissance and the spirit of the Reformation. The Renaissance is the name given to the revival of ancient Greek and Latin learning which took place in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Renaissance brought with it not only an increased interest in Greek and Latin literatures but also an increased interest in Art and a greater zest for life as a whole and a keener appreciation of what is beautiful, bright and life.
Greek literature especially had the influence of making people joyous in take a keener zest in life, develop a deeper sense of appreciation of what is beautiful, and at the same time it induced a logical and rationalistic outlook on affairs and institutions. To a certain extent, therefore, the Renaissance was responsible for the religious reformation of Europe, because people who developed a rational outlook on religion began to question the validity of several beliefs, institutions and practices connected with the Roman Catholic Church.
In other words, the Renaissance developed that spirit of enquiry and that spirit of rational analysis which ultimately led to the breach with the Roman Catholic form of Christianity and to the establishment of Protestantism.
As far as Milton was concerned the influence of the Renaissance is clearly noticeable in his outlook on life and in his poems. The wealth of classical learning with which his poems are studded, the frequent references to ancient Greek and Latin ideas and ideals, the love of Art and the love of music and love of the beautiful and the aesthetic and the sublime—all these are indications of the influence of the Renaissance.
Influence of the spirit of Puritanism
By a cross development of ideas and ideals this spirit of the Renaissance ultimately developed another spirit that was different from and hostile to the influence of the Renaissance, namely, the spirit of Puritanism. It happened this way. The Reformation as we have seen, was an indirect result of the Renaissance. As far as England was concerned, the work of the Reformation was carried out by men of markedly conservative temper; that is to say, the reformers of England did not want completely to break away from the Roman Catholic Catholic Church, though at the same time they did revolt against certain of its practices and beliefs.
It is remarkable that to the last Henry VIII did not break away completely from the Roman Catholic Church, though he repudiated the political and the religious authority of the Papacy. When during the regime of his daughter Queen Elizabeth the work of the Reformation was more or less completed, we find that a good deal of the ritual and the ceremonials of the Roman Catholic Church are still retained, though apparently Protestantism has become the established religion of England.
This peculiar kind of Protestantism in England, otherwise known as Anglicanism, is a kind of compromise between extreme Catholicism, and extreme Protestantism. Naturally there were two sets of people in England—some who opposed the breach with Rome and others who protested against this half-hearted Protestantism. This latter set of people were known as the Puritans, because they stood for the purest form of Protestantism, or in other words for Christianity based upon the literal wording of the Bible—a Christianity that recognized the supremacy of Christ alone without any temporal or mortal intermediaries.
The Puritans stood for an austere, high-principled, God-fearing and blameless kind of life. They were against any kind of episcopal government, and were against any sort of aristocratic authority by priests. The Bible, as far as the Puritans ware concerned, contained sufficient guidance for them to direct them through all the walks of life.
The Puritans were, during the age of Elizabeth, essentially a minority. Queen Elizabeth herself although she had broken away completely from the Roman Catholic Church and persecuted the Roman Catholics, was equally opposed to Puritanism; and Puritans were persecuted with as much rigour as Roman Catholics. The reason for this is to be sought in the fact that the Puritan was taken to be, and to a certain extent was, a rebel against all established authority.
He revolted against Church government or the government by priests as far as his religious life was concerned. It was feared, to a certain extent justifiably, that he would rebel against established authority in political matters as well. This fear was soon to materialise in the succeeding age, the reign of the Stuarts, etc. Milton too was a Puritan and this is reflected in his poems. The revolt of Satan is in a way the revolt of a Puritan against the established authority.
Age of bitter controversies and influence on Milton
Had Milton lived in a different age, an age of tranquility and peace, had he not been torn between opposing ideals and conflicting schools of thought, a good deal of his time and energy wasted in the fruitless controversy, might have gone to enrich English poetry. Another Comus or Lycidas might have been written; another epic of the magnitude of Paradise Lost or some great dramatic production like Samson Agonistes, might have been written.
But perhaps we should not forget that there is also another side to the question. The stormy age in which he lived helped to widen his outlook and enlarge his knowledge of men and affairs. Whether the age in which he lived did more harm or good to the poet’s genius, one thing is certain that he was immensely influenced by it and that his poems carry unmistakable traces and impressions of the ideals and ideas that inspired the age in which he lived.
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