[Milton-L] Fw: "Milton Regained . . ." by Charles McGrath

[Feisal Mohamed]

Not to dispute the authority of Professor Barton or Disney's Thumper, but
the McGrath article is not 'defamatory' in the least.  It has its
imprecisions and it is simplistic in its interpretation of the term 'Puritan
poet,' but it also has some glowing (if equally simplistic) passages on
_Paradise Lost_: 'But of course that's what makes great poems great: they're
open to multiple interpretations. At this show there is even a painting in
which Satan announces: "Getting knocked out of heaven was just a stepping
stone. Now I have a better job and my life is full of opportunities." As
Johnson wrote: "Milton's delight was to sport in the wide regions of
possibility; reality was a scene too narrow for his mind. He sent his
faculties out upon discovery, into worlds where only imagination can
travel."'  As for the sculpture, the artist has labeled it 'Milton' and what
has been taken to be a 'pointy beard' is in fact an extended tongue.  I'm
not persuaded that 'any expert on the seventeenth century' would know this
to be a representation of Charles I.
One would hope that Miltonists are not so narrowly partisan that they cannot
endure a few newspaper sentences over-emphasizing for attention-grabbing
effect aspects of the poet's life that we know to be true--the work he set
for his daughters was certainly drudge-ish, after all.
I appreciated the link.  I also appreciated the detailed attention that this
exhibit received in the Times.

Feisal Mohamed


On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 11:47 AM, Richard Durocher <durocher at stolaf.edu>wrote:

> Dear Carol,
>
>    Well said, and well done.
>
>   Best wishes,
>
>   Rich DuRocher
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 10:22 AM, Carol Barton <cbartonphd1 at verizon.net>wrote:
>
>>  For those who can't see it lower in this message--the e-mail address for
>> Letters to the Editor at the _Times_ is letters at nytimes.com.
>>
>> My note to the editor is below.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- *From:* Carol Barton<cbartonphd1 at verizon.net>
>> *To:* letters at nytimes.com
>> *Sent:* Friday, September 26, 2008 11:16 AM
>> *Subject:* "Milton Regained . . ." by Charles McGrath
>>
>> Letters to the Editor
>> The New York Times
>> 620 Eighth Avenue
>> New York, NY 10018
>> Subject: "Milton Regained: A Helluva Party" (Charles McGrath, 25 Sept
>> 2008, Book Section)
>>
>> Sir:
>>
>> I read with disgust Charles McGrath's flippant and irreverent
>> mis-characterization of John Milton, which is as inaccurate and
>> irresponsible as it is derogatory.
>>
>> To begin with: any expert on the seventeenth century ought to know at a
>> glance that the "sculpture of John Milton by Arthur Kimiss" shown below is
>> in fact a sculpture of the head of Charles I--or does Mr. McGrath think
>> Milton wore a crown, in addition to taking "a dim view of dancing,"
>> harboring his "Turkish contempt of females," using his *wives*--much less
>> his daughters--as "drudges and amanuenses"--and the other claptrap he
>> ignorantly reports?
>>
>> It doesn't sound to me as if any of this--his article or the exhibit it
>> describes--was "put together lovingly." I'd suggest that Mr. McGrath take
>> the good advice of a character who is apparently closer to his reading
>> level: Disney's Thumper. "If ya can't say nuthin' nice--don't say nuthin' at
>> all."
>>
>> Respectfully,
>>
>> Carol Barton
>>
>>   CAROL BARTON, PH.D.
>>
>> "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect
>> wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for
>> the endless immensity of the sea." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Milton-L mailing list
>> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
>> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
>> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.richmond.edu/pipermail/milton-l/attachments/20080926/4ab8f577/attachment.html