Is Milton Better than Shakespeare? [Hardcover]

Nigel Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674028325 | ISBN-13: 978-0674028326 | Publication Date: May 31, 2008

With literature waning in the interest of so many, is Shakespeare the only poet the public can still appreciate? John Milton, as this book makes clear, speaks more powerfully to the eternal questions and to the important concerns of our time. The Milton of this volume is an author for all Americans—conservative, liberal, radical—not only because he was a favorite of the founding fathers, his voice echoing through their texts and our very foundation, but also because his visionary writing embodies the aspirations that have guided Americans seeking ideals of ethical and spiritual perfection.

Nigel Smith makes a compelling case for Milton’s relevance to our present situation. In direct and accessible terms, he shows how the seventeenth-century poet, while working to write the greatest heroic poem in the English language, also managed to theorize about religious, political, and civil liberty in ways that matter as much today as they did in Puritanical times. Through concise chapters that chart Milton’s life at the center of the English and European literary and political scenes—as well as his key themes of free will, freedom and slavery, love and sexual liberty, the meaning of creation, and the nature of knowledge—Smith’s work brings Milton, his poetry, and his prose home to readers of our day. A provocative and enlightening introduction, for newcomers and informed readers alike, this book rediscovers and redefines Milton for a new generation, one that especially needs and deserves to know him.

(20081101)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The title is an attention-getting device. This isn’t a comparison of the two Renaissance colossi of English literature. It’s an explication of Milton on liberty, which Smith holds influenced modern notions of individuality and independence, especially through America’s Founding Fathers, whose prose, Smith says, is essentially Miltonic. Drawing on all the major prose as well as the poems, Smith highlights such Miltonic notions as the creativity of divorce, the absolute freedom of the press, the ineluctable viciousness of monarchy, the republic of virtue (which rather uncomfortably recalls Plato’s regime of philosopher-kings), and the division of creational responsibility within the Trinity. Finally, Smith asserts that, beautiful as Milton’s expression is (and close appreciation of many great passages of his poetry and prose is the most satisfying aspect of the book), his writings don’t contain a coherent structure of thought. Milton is consistent only in “inviting difference and dissent.” Perhaps that is why our perpetually rebellious pop culture compulsively references Milton, especially his Satan in Paradise Lost. An inquiry as fascinating as it is demanding. --Ray Olson

Review

Is Milton Better than Shakespeare? asks a fundamental question that, like all such questions, is hard to answer but richly rewarding to consider. This is a lively, fast-paced and engaging book relating Milton to the political events and struggles of his day.
--Gordon Teskey, author of Delirious Milton

Is Milton Better than Shakespeare? offers a fresh, accessible, and beautifully written introduction to the major achievements of the greatest seventeenth-century poet. Bringing a wealth of insight and original learning to his subject, Nigel Smith successfully makes the case that the endeavor of reading Milton is not merely interesting, but actually relevant, and perhaps even urgent.
--John Rogers, author of The Matter of Revolution: Science, Poetry, and Politics in the Age of Milton

This engagingly informal but thoroughly informed volume answers the title's question in the affirmative: Milton is better for Americans today in that he stands for political liberty...This book deserves the attention of a broad audience.
--E. D. Hill (Choice )

The title is silly but it is fair to say that the book is not...Smith is moved by the allegorical quest in Areopagitica for the lost body of Truth, by Milton's exalted notions of the purpose of true poetry, and by the identification of the heroic poet as "national redeemer."
--Frank Kermode (New York Review of Books )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (May 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674028325
• ISBN-13: 978-0674028326
• Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,583,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Think of it as counter-aversion therapy, June 12, 2008

By 

Kerry Walters (Lewisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Is Milton Better than Shakespeare? (Hardcover)

I have a shameful confession. I've lived more than half a century and I'm pretty well-read. But ever since a nightmarish high school experience in English Lit, I've never been able to stomach the thought of reading John Milton--despite the fact that an acquaintance of mine has sworn by him for years.

Nigel Smith's Is Milton Better than Shakespeare? may've changed that. His discussion of Milton's context, poetic style, and contemporary relevance--not to mention the generous amount of Milton's poetry and prose that he actually quotes--goes a long way toward neutralizing my longstanding aversion to Milton. And neutralization just might be the first tentative step toward appreciation.

The book's title has only a rhetorical connection with the book--it's more of a barker's call to get you in the tent than an indication of what you'll find once inside. There's little effort on Smith's part actually to compare Shakespeare and Milton. Instead, what he does is provide what I think is best described as an overview or introduction to Milton intended to persuade us that the poet is well worth reading today. Call it Milton 101. Well, maybe Milton 301.

Smith focuses on what he sees as the major themes in Milton, which include liberty ("at the center of [Milton's] vision," claims Smith), human and social transformation, the paradox of good and evil, and free will and moral responsibility--not to mention divorce in both its social/legal and metaphysical/biblical senses--and uses them to guide the reader to a better appreciation of how to read Milton. A large part of Smith's argument is geared to stressing Milton's relevance, and he draws connections between Miltonic themes and (for example) Islamic terrorism, Founding Father ideals, children's literature, and heavy metal music. But Smith's brief for Milton isn't based (and properly, too) merely on the poet's relevance, but also on the sheer beauty of his artistry.

The contemporary ear may no longer be easily attuned to Miltonic verse (not to mention his teutonically-long prose sentences!). Neither, for that matter, are we entirely comfortable with Shakespeare's cadences and vocabulary. Yet many of us happily know that Shakespeare can be grown into. Perhaps with the help of Smith, something similar can happen with Milton.

1 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Academic excellence, July 18, 2008

By 

Kenneth A. Weene (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Is Milton Better than Shakespeare? (Hardcover)

This reads like a series of high quality lectures. Unfortunately, the reader does not have the opportunity to question the lecturer when clarification is needed.