Who are 'the people' in Milton's writing? They figure prominently in
his texts from early youth to late maturity, in his poetry and in his
prose works; they are invoked as the sovereign power in the state and
have the right to overthrow tyrants; they are also, as God's chosen
people, the guardians of the true Protestant path against those who
would corrupt or destroy the Reformation. They are entrusted with the
preservation of liberty in both the secular and the spiritual spheres.
And yet Milton is uncomfortably aware that the people are rarely
sufficiently moral, pure, intelligent, or energetic to discharge those
responsibilities which his political theory and his theology would
place upon them. When given the freedom to choose, they too often
prefer servitude to freedom. Milton and the People traces the twists
and turns of Milton's terminology and rhetoric across the whole range
of his writings, in verse and prose, as he grapples with the problem
that the people have a calling to which they seem not to be adequate.
Indeed, they are often referred to not as 'the people' but as 'the
vulgar', as well as 'the rude multitude', 'the rabble', and even as
'scum'. Increasingly his rhetoric imagines that liberty or salvation
may lie not with the people but in the hands of a small group or even
an individual. An additional thread which runs through this discussion
is Milton's own self-image: as he takes responsibility for defining
the vocation of the people, and for analysing the causes of their
defection from that high calling, his own role comes under scrutiny
both from himself and from his enemies.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191504914
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter