By starting with the early literary productions in poetry and prose and concluding with /Samson Agonistes/, written in old age, when Milton, like his champion, was blind and disillusioned, we will give attention to the development of his literary powers. But we will spend most of our time on /Paradise Lost./ With all due reverence for Chaucer's /Canterbury Tales/ and Shakespeare's /Hamlet/ and /King Lear/, Milton's epic is the greatest single work ever written in English. We will try to understand it mostly on our own but also with help from some of the best contemporary essays. Besides a longer final paper, everyone will turn in a short paper (500-750 words, no more than two to three double-spaced typed pages) every two weeks. Since the class will be split in two, and the assignments staggered, one half of the class will be turning in an assignment every time we meet. Papers should concentrate on interpretive problems or questions raised by the work to be discussed in class that week.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
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