[Milton-L] Renaissance course tips

[Carol Barton]

I agree with Professor Herman's aversion to teaching bits and snatches of 
PL, with one specific exception: as I just told Professor Durocher 
privately, the fact that I recently had to explain to the Corporation of 
London (which has jurisdiction over the City proper) why Milton deserved the 
title "statesman" leads me to think that one might, in a survey course, 
profitably use thematic excerpts from Books I and IX of PL (to explore 
theories of liberty, tyranny, servitude, and government by consent of the 
governed) coupled with excerpts from RCG, TKM, Eikonoklastes, the Defences, 
and even DDD to demonstrate that Milton wasn't just "that old white Puritan 
guy who wrote that boring poem." Such an approach would at least present a 
fairer picture of Milton than is traditionally painted (especially in those 
who may never encounter him again), and it might inspire curiosity even in 
those budding majors who were prepared to dismiss him from their thoughts 
the moment the class ends. (It might even teach them that the separation of 
church and state had and has nothing whatsoever to do with keeping the Ten 
Commandments or the Bible out of the courtroom.)

In an era in which the will of the many has been summarily ignored in favor 
of the will of the few, even a country that considers itself the world's 
foremost bastion of democracy, much of what Milton had to say about 
government by fiat is painfully pertinent.

Best to all,

Carol Barton