John Milton

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The Milton of the critics is either denounced as pompous or admired for his grand style. The Milton of the scholars is weighed down with classical learning and Protestant theology. For the student, in consequence, Milton is a figure certainly respected, even feared - but largely unread. This book represents a Milton that challenges rather than daunts the reader. This is the Milton whose writing is a product of one of the most turbulent eras of English history, the period of the Revolution, the Commonwealth and the Restoration. In Catherine Belsey's analysis, Milton's is, in consequence, a turbulent writing, fully engaged with questions of politics, gender and language. In all these spheres, Milton's poetry and prose constitute an unresolved confrontation with difference. Produced on the threshold of the modern world, the texts foreshadow issues which are fiercely contested again today. Power is seen to be dangerous and unstable, patriachy precarious, masculinity vulnerable and the language ultimately beyond the control of the impulse to master it.