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

[Molly Hand]

The article fulfills its purpose of calling attention to an art exhibition.
But it unfortunately characterizes that art as depictions of a guy who was
kind of lame (Milton), and of his characters who are sort of neat (Satan).
The tone does not seem ironic (as Prof. Hodges suggests), though bemused
might be right.  Defamatory might be another term.   And I hardly think
McGrath dislikes or misunderstands Milton because he's read the divorce
tracts one too many times--indeed, if he had, then he might not have so
readily thought Milton contemptuous to women or a strident Puritan.

I'm really interested in appropriations and modern approaches to early
modern texts.  The comic book Satan--it might be worth taking a gander.  But
if I know nothing about Milton and I'm reading this article, will I be
enticed?

The Times could have, and should have, asked for a more responsible and
redeeming article.

Best,
Molly




On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 6:51 PM, Tony Demarest <tonydemarest at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> And I agree 100% with Carol- because it is always easier to snipe that to
> confront.
>
> Tony
> ________________________________
> > Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:08:29 -0500
> > From: f.mohamed00 at gmail.com
> > To: milton-l at lists.richmond.edu
> > Subject: Re: [Milton-L] Fw: "Milton Regained . . ." by Charles McGrath
> >
> > 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  wrote:
> > Dear Carol,
> >
> >    Well said, and well done.
> >
> >   Best wishes,
> >
> >   Rich DuRocher
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 10:22 AM, Carol Barton  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
> > 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
> >
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