John Milton (1608-74)
Biographical notes

Born into a strict Protestant family in London, Milton received an excellent education which he completed at Cambridge University. After Cambridge he dismissed a career in the Church, shocked by the corruption he saw there, and decided to concentrate on writing and studying the classics. In 1638 he travelled to France and Italy to further enhance his education and culture but returned to England after just over a year when he heard of the outbreak of the Civil War. Milton was a passionate Puritan and saw in Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Parliamentarians, not only a figure intent on suppressing Catholicism once and for all, but also one who would challenge the monarchy's belief in its divine right to rule.
He was so supportive of Cromwell's cause that he gladly took office for him as Secretary for Foreign Tongues for the Commonwealth after the Parliamentarian victory. Following the Restoration, however, having been publicly on the side of the Parliamentarians during the war, he was in danger of prosecution. He was in fact imprisoned for a short period but was eventually granted a full pardon.
By this time his eyesight had already begun to fail him and by 1652 he became completely blind and could continue writing only with the help of secretaries. This makes the completion of his greatest works, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, in these later years, even more extraordinary. In his final years he was cared for by his daughters, to whom he dedicated his works.
Commentary
John Milton was undoubtedly the greatest poet of the 17th century and with Paradise Lost he achieved his goal of writing an epic poem to the standards of Homer and Virgil. Yet he was also one of the most controversial figures in English literature. He was anti-Royalist and participated in the English Revolution but he was not a lover of the common man. He was passionately anti-clerical and at the same time highly religious. While many famous writers, such as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Spenser, seem to float above time in a kind of agelessness, Milton and his works were intrinsically affected by the great political and social changes of the period. Throughout his lifetime he saw the turmoil of the English Civil War, the execution of Charles I (1649), England as a Commonwealth and finally the restoration of the monarchy with Charles II (1660). Milton was passionately involved in all these events and his works combine the humanist and classical traditions, which were the fruits of his studies and typical of the Renaissance, along with the religious and political spirit of his times. His life and works can be divided into three distinct periods. In the first period (1629-39) Milton concentrated on poetry. In the second period (1640-60), that of the Civil War, he almost entirely abandoned poetry and dedicated himself to writing prose in favour of Cromwell's cause and defending him against foreign criticism over the execution of Charles I. His writings were not only political, he also wrote pamphlets concerning education, divorce (one of his three wives left him), and in favour of “freedom of the press and freedom of thought”.
He did, however, write 17 sonnets in this period, including one of his most famous, `On His Blindness’: this was an analysis of Milton's own reactions to his growing loss of sight, his rebellious attitude towards God, and an acceptance of his providence. Milton's third period is marked by the restoration of the monarchy (1660). This was a great disappointment to the poet, who had dedicated himself to the Commonwealth cause. Despite his disappointment (or because of it) this period marked Milton's return to poetry and his greatest literary achievements.
Milton's style
Milton's style is by no means easy for the modern reader as it is the result of many years of classical studies. It is also imbued with his strong religious beliefs. He believed that man was put on earth to serve God and that every poet had the `divine mission' of justifying the ways of God to man. Blank verse, complex similes and long, Latinate sentences further contribute to the loftiness and grandeur of his work and became known as Milton's ‘grand style’.

Paradise Lost
Milton planned his greatest poetical work as a Christian epic, in keeping with his Puritan faith and classical Renaissance learning. Using Homer, Virgil and Dante as models he also developed the idea of a divine plan. The plot centres around the biblical themes of man's fall from grace and divine providence. Milton uses the Ptolemaic model of the universe in which there is a rigid hierarchy with God alone at the top then descending down to the lowest level, animals. The work is divided into 12 books. It begins with Lucifer and the fallen angels who are defeated by God in their rebellion and are driven from heaven into hell. Satan seeks his revenge on God by convincing Eve, in the Garden of Eden, to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and so disobey God. Adam also eats the fruit to share Eve's punishment. Although they both repent their sins they are forced to leave Paradise forever and enter the world. Milton concentrated all his creative energies and visionary powers into a fable which expressed an evolving human consciousness by capturing the spirit of its age and by many is seen as an allegory of the political events of his time; Satan's banishment from heaven being compared with Charles I's loss of the throne. In the world of literature parallels have been drawn between Milton's Satan and Marlowe's Faustus. Both are epic heroes who dare to challenge the religious and natural order.