1When did John Milton live?
1608-1674, during the Stuart era, which included Jacobean and Carolinian
2What major events did Milton live through, in the correct order? (5)
- Jacobean era
- Carolinian era
- English Civil War
- Protectorate
- Restoration
3Mary Powell
Sixteen years’ old
First wife 1642
Unhappy, causing him to develop radical ideas about divorce
Died in birthing their fourth child in 1652.
4Katherine Woodcock
Second wife 1656
Died in childbirth in 1958, along with their child
5Elizabeth Mynshull
Last wife in 1663 until Milton’s death
Happy despite 31-yr age gap
Some argument that she was to Milton more an attendant than wife
6What was Milton's religious affiliation?
Puritan
7What did Milton believe about the soul?
Milton believed in mortalism, which was a belief in the mortality of the soul, and that after bodily death it was in a sleep like state until the Last Judgement
8What did Milton argue for in terms of religious toleration?
He argued for a disestablishment of religion, saying that the gospel was forceful enough without enforced religious views from government
9Who did Milton support upon the outbreak of war in 1642?
Oliver Cromwell, writing in defence of the regicide of Charles I
10What did Milton do after the restoration?
Went into hiding and composed PL
11When did Milton lose his blindness?
In 1652, meaning he dictated PL to his daughter for writing
12What kind of epic did Milton originally want to write?
A traditionally heroic one, like the Aeneid and Odyssey, but he instead chose a biblical story
13When was PL published?
1667
14What were Milton's political views?
- Republicanism
- Anti-monarchism
- Individual freedom and rights
- Socio-political hierarchy (of whom the highest were worthy)
15What was the initial intended form of Paradise Lost?
A drama, which began composition in 1642
16How did Milton spend his life in the 1630s?
In a family estate near Windsor where he read the Greek and Latin classics
17Lycidas
1637, an English poem in which he criticises Catholics, likening them to wolves leaping into a sheep's pen
18Protestant values present in PL
- Union of Testaments
- Unworthiness of mankind
- Importance of Christ's love in salvation for man
19In which chapter does Milton establish inequality between man and woman?
Book IV, alluding to biblical passages that agree with his view of women's inferiority
20Divorce tracts 1643-45
- The Doctrine
- Judgement of Martin Bucer
- Tetrachordon
- Colasterion
21When and what was the Doctrine of Discipline and Divorce?
1643,
22What did Milton define the purpose of marriage as?
“the apt and cheerful conversation of man with woman, to comfort and refresh him against the evils of solitary life"
23What does Milton define grounds for divorce as?
"mistak'n in their dispositions through any error, concealment, or misadventure" before marriage