Post-Colonial Paradise Lost Pre-write

The Motherland and her dependent colonial offspring
by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Thesis Statement:
Although Milton's Of Reformation and Paradise Lost still share many similarities with other works under postcolonial criticism, they ultimately condemn colonialization and predict the eventual dissolution of the English Empire.

Parallels between colonial history and Paradise Lost, Satan and colonizers both:

• Oppose higher power and cause a civil war
• Move across expanse to new, beautiful land
• Encounter beautiful, unintelligent, indigenous people
• Cause the downfall of the indigenous with words
• Return as conqueror
• NEW TWIST (main difference from many other works under postcolonial criticism): Satan (colonizer) is punished

Quotes showing Milton's prediction in Of Reformation:

"In all these things hath the Kingdome been of late sorely weakened, and chiefly by the Prelates. What numbers of faithful and freeborn Englishmen and good Christians have been constrained to forsake their dearest home, their friends, and kindred, whom nothing but the wide Ocean, and the savage deserts of America could hide and shelter from the fury of the Bishops."

Reevaluating Authority: Milton, Sola Scriptura, and Papal Praxis

Milton's political and religious works underscore key ideological tenets within the broader movement of Reformation Puritanism.

In "Of Reformation," Milton emphasizes the Puritan concept of sola scriptura, or the idea that truth is to be found only through study of the scriptures. Milton writes that truth may be had in "searching, trying, examining all things, and by the spirit discerning that which is good." Thus, the authority of truth comes not through episcopal figures, interpreting the texts, but by the personal and direct manifestations of the Holy Ghost. For Milton, this idea of personal truth and spiritual direction plays into the most fundamental aspects of belief and practice. Milton even goes so far as to suggest that the English king might learn better governance by a similar policy. He suggests that the king "betake himself to the old and new testament and receive direction from them how to administer both church and commonwealth," an idea that simultaneously undermines the authority of the prelacy, questions the legitimacy of the monarchy, and reinforces the fundamental Puritan principle of sola scriptura.

Of Reformation and some imagery that is more clever than the title of this post

          I wasn't in class on Monday, but after listening to the lecture, I think I might know what I'm supposed to be talking about on here.
          Milton does know the dangers of what he is writing about. Many people before him have lost their ears for saying stuff against episcopacy (like, literally, they had their ears cut. I didn't imagine reading that, did I?). Regardless, Milton takes on this controversial subject because he believes it is his duty as a writer and a persuasive writer at that. I guess what Professor Burton said about Milton having friends in high places is what protected him from most of the outrage that was certainly taking place after people read these works.
          In the introduction to "Of Reformation", this guy, Don M. Wolfe says that although this is at a point before Milton really got a knack of prose, it is to be read for the brilliancy of it's imagery. And as I heard at the end of the class recording, there are several passages within these works that create an image that probably got Milton into some trouble:

|n e o l o g i s m s|

{I should have written this post when the ideas were flowing fast or, as Milton would say, when the Muse was upon me but I didn't. It makes me much more appreciative of why Milton and others would invoke the "Heavenly Muse" because writing without it is stinkin' hard! I think it must be simply a state of mind but it feels as if every word as it flows from my brain, down the veins of my arms, and out of my fingertips has been turned to something akin to molasses instead of the liquidity of hemophiliac blood. (Igh…that metaphor felt gross to write.) Regardless, here it goes.}

The introduction to "Of Reformation" conveyed that Milton was not the most wonderful of intellectual prose writers when he first began..."Long, convoluted, and sometimes broken sentences make this the most difficult of Milton's prose works to read in unmodernized form (even here, with sentences repunctuated and often divided, some difficulty remains)"..."He unleashes a torrent of graphic images suggesting the bestial nature of the bishops and the disease and deformity they have inflicted upon a once pure church." It wasn't until later that "…Milton moved toward a more functional, readable style, more sparing of imagery and neologisms."
Neologisms!! (had no idea what that meant - except maybe something along the lines of "new") 
According to the New Oxford American Dictionary (linked to in the Kindle text) a neologism is "a newly coined word or expression."
I have taken to, as I've been reading, highlighting the most outlandish, odd, l o n g, unknown, and/or perfectly-placed words that Milton uses. So this little nugget of information was especially intriguing to me. (Meaning it gave relevance to the little nit-picky things I've been doing;) It turns out that Milton (according to John Crace) has created, invented around 630 words in the English language. 630 words!!



Milton was living in a time where word-creation was widespread due to the fact that English was still being coalesced. Usually the words were formed from a combination of French and Latin which a majority of other people would be able to understand. What is significant about Milton is that while many people were making up words, his were the ones that stuck.

  [examples: liturgical, debauchery, besottedly, unhealthily, padlock, dismissive, terrific, embellishing, fragrance, didactic, love-lorn, complacency, pandemonium, sensuous…]

I think the reason why I found this information so fascinating is I find myself wanting to make up words and creating "convoluted" metaphors as I write…and I always delay over whether I should let people puzzle out my genius or avoid seeming ridiculously illiterate. Problems, problems. There is a certain level of confidence, clout, experience, and intelligence necessary to make up word now that English has been codified. Finally, Crace claims that Milton's freedom and ability with language and words is directly related to his beliefs and perpetuation of "personal, political, and religious freedoms." What do you think? How would Milton's beliefs in the above freedoms relate to his ability/propensity to create words?


Crace, John. "G2: Shortcuts: John Milton - our Greatest Word-Maker." The Guardian: 3. Jan 28 2008. ProQuest. Web. 7 Oct. 2013 <http://search.proquest.com/docview/244177796?accountid=4488>.

A Short History Lesson

Once I got past Milton's flowery language that strove to obscure his obvious dislike of religious hierarchy, I was able to find points I disagreed with—points I disagreed with for historical reasons.