Milton's Bravery

Milton utilizes so many flowery and witty things in his work, and that has somewhat annoyed me, but after class on Monday I realized just what a risk he was taking. So I went back to the introduction on On Reformation, and this is what it said: "others—notably William Prynne, Henry Burton, and John Bastwick—had opened their mouths against bishops and been punished with imprisonment, branding, and the loss of their ears."

Speaking out against prelates meant risking his physical self, not just a little slap on the wrist and a "don't do that again." By the time Milton was writing those really radical treatises on divorce and freedom (which don't seem that radical now simply because we have those nice things), he was really pressing his luck. We talked about the Restoration of the king during Milton's lifetime, and I just did a quick internet search about it. Apparently he had a few friends willing to hide him that summer, and it is the only reason he wasn't arrested.