John Milton

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Life

In 1608, John Milton (1608 ～ 1674) was born in a Puritan family and was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge.

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• After graduation, he wrote some short poems, such as L'Allegro, Lycidas and Comus.

• At 29 years old, Milton began his travel on the Continent, but his journey was cut short by the bourgeois revolution in his homeland.

• Then he returned to London and took part in the war against the absolute monarchy.

• He wrote some pamphlets, such as Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing (1641), to attack the censorship of the press, Eikonoklastes (1649), to justify the execution of Charles I, and Defense of the English People (1650) to defend the Commonwealth and Revolution.

Life

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Life

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After the establishment of the Commonwealth, Milton was appointed Secretary for Foreign Tongues and began working more enthusiastically for the Commonwealth. But due to too hard work, his eyesight began to fall and in 1652 he became totally blind. However, he continued his literary and political works by dictating to others.

Life

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• With the coming of Restoration, Milton was put into prison and his books were burned. But he was soon set free and began to write his great epic Paradise Lost (1665), which was an immediate success.

• Then another epic Paradise Regained was published in 1671.

• Samson Agonistes, a poetical drama, was Milton's last work. Milton died in November, 1674.

Life

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Life

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Samson Agonistes is a play telling the story of Samson, the Champion of Israel, who, like Milton himself, passed his last days in blindness. It also shows Milton's fight against tyranny, because the theme of it is how a strong man, betrayed and made a slave, finally rises up to bring his enemies destruction.

Life

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