EIL 4.5 Milton Context

British Literature Module 4.5

British Literature- Excellence in Literature: English 4 by Janice CampbellStudy Guide: British Literature (Excellence in Literature, English 4)

Focus Text: Paradise Lost by John Milton


I recommend The Major Works by John Milton from Oxford World’s Classics, as it contains both his prose and poetry.

NOTE: This is an epic poem, created to be heard. I strongly recommend listening to it, or at least a portion of it.

Honors Text

Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe OR

The Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo (Ignatius Critical Editions) OR

Context Resources

These links represent only the online resources referenced in this module. Instructions, background information, offline resources, and assignments are all found in the Excellence in Literature study guide listed above.

Readings

The Tale of Paradise Lost: Based on the Poem by John Milton by Jude Daly and Nancy Willard

https://darknessvisible.christs.cam.ac.uk/intro/introduction.html

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1094-348X

http://rhetoric.byu.edu

The Author’s Life

The Life of John Milton: A Critical Biography by Barbara K. Lewalski.

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/miltonbio.htm

http://www.biography.com/people/john-milton-9409395

Poetry

https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/john-milton-poems/

https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/on-mr-miltons-paradise-lost-by-andrew-marvell

https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/george-herbert-poetry

http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poets/herbert-george

Optional: Working it Out: Poetry Study with George Herbert

Audio

Like most great epic poems, Paradise Lost is meant to be heard. You may get it on CD, or listen to a free audio version from Librivox.

Paradise Lost audiobook: http://amzn.to/2qdlICN (Recommended)

https://librivox.org/paradise-lost-by-john-milton-2/ (amateur recording)

https://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-220

Music

http://darknessvisible.christs.cam.ac.uk/music.html

https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/let-the-bright-seraphim-by-handel/

Video

https://miltonrevealed.berkeley.edu/videos/john-miltons-paradise-lost-drama-part-1

https://darknessvisible.christs.cam.ac.uk/performance.html

Visual Arts

https://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/items/browse/tag/Paradise+Lost

Historic Context

https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/the-turbulent-17th-century-civil-war-regicide-the-restoration-and-the-glorious-revolution

http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/the-commonwealth/rump-parliament

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Oliver-Cromwell/

https://darknessvisible.christs.cam.ac.uk/politics.html

https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/the-protestant-reformation-by-steven-kreis/

http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture5c.html

https://voxeu.org/article/protestant-reformation-and-allocation-resources-europe

https://darknessvisible.christs.cam.ac.uk/religion.html

Eyewitness Renaissance by Alison Cole

https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac88

https://www.excellence-in-literature.com/history-of-the-renaissance-by-bamber-gascoigne

Places to Go

http://www.miltonscottage.org/

Optional Extra

Annotated online edition:


Index of British Literature context link pages

Note: All Amazon links are affiliate links provided for your convenience; full information in footer.

British Literature Texts (recommended editions)

British Lit study guide, and links to focus and honors texts (opens in a new tab at the author’s Everyday Education site)