Bought this solely for Charles Williams's introduction, which I read on March 1, 2017. Williams's essay is included in Milton Criticism: Selections frBought this solely for Charles Williams's introduction, which I read on March 1, 2017. Williams's essay is included in Milton Criticism: Selections from Four Centuries, edited by James Thorpe (1950/1969).
vii: during Williams's life, critics attacked Milton's reputation; only Shakespeare, the metaphysicals, and Yeats seem untouched; Milton described as "a bad man" viii: some find in Milton no "enduring truth that speaks to the imagination"; they say his myth embodies no "enduring truth that speaks to the imagination"; they attribute Satan's pride to Milton and say he (who "used to sing while he had the gout!") lacks joy; Milton's poetry compared to organ music [cf. Tennyson's poem]; Eliot's comments re: Milton are taken too far by a "corrupt following," who claim that Eliot "destroyed Milton in a parenthesis"; Eliot's famous 1936 essay is titled "A Note on the Verse of John Milton" [his 1947 essay (in Thorpe's Milton Criticism) is less harsh] viii–ix: four categories of opposition: 1) Milton was a bad man; 2) Milton was proud of his pride (cf. Blake); 3) Milton's verse is clunky; 4) Milton's subject is uninteresting —> the orthodox critics used to say this without contempt, and they acted surprised when people started saying the same things with contempt ix: Milton wasn't a fool [he knew what the Bible said about pride]; it's entirely possible that Milton, like Dante, knew that he was proud and wrote his repentance into his poetry x–xi: Comus and Sabrina (chaste goddess); "Temperance is the means of intense Joy"; disobedience "limit[s] the nature of Joy"; re: this theme, Comus is the prelude to Paradise Lost; in PL, "Obedience . . . is the proper order of the universe in relation to a universal law, the law of self-abnegation in love" xi: PL focuses on the choice/decision more than Comus does xii: even if Milton were proud, he knew that it was "foolish and wrong" (see p. ix)—it's obvious when we look at the consequences for Satan (a sense of injured merit leads to high disdain); Satan is self-loving, and his goal is to suck others into the same action xiii: "Hell is always inaccurate"; "Love laughs at anti-love" xiii–xiv: the Son opposes Satan more than anyone else; Satan refuses to be "derived," whereas the Son glories in it (proceeding from the Father) xiv–xv: "the poem has a great deal of interest for us"; "It is we who are involved, one way or the other: it is not only to Adam that the Archangel's word is addressed—'Remember, and fear to transgress'" (footnote about Pascal re: "self-loving" men who resist reproof) xv–xvi: "the organ-music of Milton" (see p. viii); Milton's theodicy indicates humility; his hope is daring, but "shyly and modestly daring" xvi–xvii: more on hope and derived love xviii–xix: "the continual laughter of Paradise Lost xx: more on humility and derived love
Merged review:
Bought this solely for Charles Williams's introduction, which I read on March 1, 2017. Williams's essay is included in Milton Criticism: Selections from Four Centuries, edited by James Thorpe (1950/1969).
vii: during Williams's life, critics attacked Milton's reputation; only Shakespeare, the metaphysicals, and Yeats seem untouched; Milton described as "a bad man" viii: some find in Milton no "enduring truth that speaks to the imagination"; they say his myth embodies no "enduring truth that speaks to the imagination"; they attribute Satan's pride to Milton and say he (who "used to sing while he had the gout!") lacks joy; Milton's poetry compared to organ music [cf. Tennyson's poem]; Eliot's comments re: Milton are taken too far by a "corrupt following," who claim that Eliot "destroyed Milton in a parenthesis"; Eliot's famous 1936 essay is titled "A Note on the Verse of John Milton" [his 1947 essay (in Thorpe's Milton Criticism) is less harsh] viii–ix: four categories of opposition: 1) Milton was a bad man; 2) Milton was proud of his pride (cf. Blake); 3) Milton's verse is clunky; 4) Milton's subject is uninteresting —> the orthodox critics used to say this without contempt, and they acted surprised when people started saying the same things with contempt ix: Milton wasn't a fool [he knew what the Bible said about pride]; it's entirely possible that Milton, like Dante, knew that he was proud and wrote his repentance into his poetry x–xi: Comus and Sabrina (chaste goddess); "Temperance is the means of intense Joy"; disobedience "limit[s] the nature of Joy"; re: this theme, Comus is the prelude to Paradise Lost; in PL, "Obedience . . . is the proper order of the universe in relation to a universal law, the law of self-abnegation in love" xi: PL focuses on the choice/decision more than Comus does xii: even if Milton were proud, he knew that it was "foolish and wrong" (see p. ix)—it's obvious when we look at the consequences for Satan (a sense of injured merit leads to high disdain); Satan is self-loving, and his goal is to suck others into the same action xiii: "Hell is always inaccurate"; "Love laughs at anti-love" xiii–xiv: the Son opposes Satan more than anyone else; Satan refuses to be "derived," whereas the Son glories in it (proceeding from the Father) xiv–xv: "the poem has a great deal of interest for us"; "It is we who are involved, one way or the other: it is not only to Adam that the Archangel's word is addressed—'Remember, and fear to transgress'" (footnote about Pascal re: "self-loving" men who resist reproof) xv–xvi: "the organ-music of Milton" (see p. viii); Milton's theodicy indicates humility; his hope is daring, but "shyly and modestly daring" xvi–xvii: more on hope and derived love xviii–xix: "the continual laughter of Paradise Lost xx: more on humility and derived love...more
Part 1 xiv: “stick like Burs” xiv: provides comfort 4: Evangelist and death 4: Tophet Burden isn’t just sin: its effect of sin on conscience (guilt, and maPart 1 xiv: “stick like Burs” xiv: provides comfort 4: Evangelist and death 4: Tophet Burden isn’t just sin: its effect of sin on conscience (guilt, and maybe shame too) “Slough”: rhymes with blue or cow Ross: Xn regenerated at cross Pliable: warning against obedience in the wrong way; train children to rebel in the right way; Xn IS Obstinate to certain people; note on p. 9: not enough to be pliable; we can’t identify Xnity with compliance Slough of Despond: piling up of debt, sense of shame 10: Lawgiver 10: Help on the bad badness of this place 12: Worldly-Wiseman 19-20: 3 things to hate 15/20: simp Civility 25-: Interpreter comes before application 26: Law of Truth 27: Law/Gospel 29: a foolish proverb; the glory of patience 31: Palace Beautiful represents the church. 32: Professor Despair 34-35: dream w/in a dream 36: hope/fear [cf. Aristotle] 36: cross; burden rolls into tomb 39: Formalist/Hypocrisy 40: violate God's will 42: Hill of Difficulty 43: Xn sleeps 44: loses his roll 46: Palace Beautiful [church fellowship] 46-47: lions 48: Xn originally called Graceless 49…: not 1st time Xn has told part of his story 54: reasons his family stayed behind 54: Conversation vs. Argument/Persuasion 55: X as a warrior 56: the Study 58; seeing ahead to E's Land 58: armor 59: Faithful; see 74 59: Valley of Humiliation 59: no armor for his back 61: A’s proverb (see 87/88); power or fraud 62: A knows/lists Xn’s faults 65: First smile in the book: Xn stabs A 66: V of Sh of Death What could be worse than fighting the devil? —> not seeing your enemies - cf. H. P. Lovecraft: fear of the unknown - Connection to ear gate in Holy War? Eph. 6: “all prayer” (p. 69) 70: reasons to be glad in Valley The way to Heaven goes right by the gates of Hell. 73: Pope and Pagan 74: Faithful 76: Madam Wanton (strange woman) - cf. Madam Bubble (362) 77: first Adam; town of Deceit 78-79: Moses 80-83: any social benefits to shame? It seems amoral (could make you feel bad for doing what’s right, but it could make you feel bad for doing what’s wrong) 84: Talkative 86: Xn smiles again 90: “chew cud” means listening without doing Talkative (84-95) claims justification but has no evidence of sanctification. 91: Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (slut) 92: Faithful Does lie at the catch (90) - see 327 94: Catechizer 95: another proverb 99: Interpret Evangelist’s “better” comment as an affirmation of the blessed nature of martyrdom (sharing in X’s suffering), not as an escapist Gnosticism. (See CSL’s Discarded Image, pp. 24-25.) 99…: In Vanity Fair, the Xns defend themselves. - 107-08: F says he keeps laws - See WLC Q/A re: the 9th commandment by defending your reputation. 100: countries (Busch Gardens; Epcot) 105: Judge Hate-Good 110: death of Faithful 112: Hopeful 112ff.: By-ends and the issue of accurate names 116: Xn/Hopeful called rigid and over righteous 118-19: specious motivation for gain - 120-22: Xn’s response 121: Simon the Witch 124: Lot’s wife 128: By-Path-Meadow 130: Doubting Castle and Giant Despair - He comes early in the morning and awakens them. - 132: has fits and can’t use his hand sometimes (Despair’s power flags) 132-36: refusal to commit suicide - 134-35: Hopeful provides hope - Giant’s wife (Diffidence, 136) represents Job’s wife 136: key (Promise) in his heart 138-39: Delectable Mountains and Shepherds 142: Perspective-Glass 143: awoke, then slept again 143-45: Ignorance - 143: City of Conceit 148: Esau ruled by lusts 152: Job 155: flatterers are liars 156: atheist 157: truth/lies 158: Enchanted ground 159-66: Hopeful’s conversion story - 160: bell toll! - 161: law doesn’t lead to justification - 162-63: X’s righteousness - 163: Presumption - 166: H loves holiness 166-73: Ignorance returns - 168: a good life that is according to God’s commandments - Doctrines of sin, God, and justification - 171: our obedience vs. X’s obedience - 171: false/deceitful faith 17?: Hopeful had misevaluated him; Xn had not 174-75: good/bad uses of fear - Connect with Mrs. Timorous in Part 2 175-79: backsliding/apostasy - 175: town of Graceless 179: Beulah: can see far ahead and behind [cf. images of wisdom] 181: 2 difficulties? - River? - Gate? 185: beatific vision 187: gates of Heaven—those who love God’s commandments 188: righteous nations 188-89: Ignorance (and Vain-Hope) 190: concluding poem
Part 2 193-201: introductory poem - 194: counterfeit attempts? - 195: gipsies - 195-96: early international success - 197-98: metaphors (cf. xiv) - 198: considered romance! - 199: neighbor Mercy 203: dreaming in a wood [Dante; Part 1 too] 203: readers as traveling companions [Dante] 204: Bunyan/dreamer a character in his own dream 205: scorned while alive but praised after death [cf. Girard and scapegoating] 207: Sagacity tells the story until 220 208: Xna dreams 210: bitter before sweet 211: Xna decides to follow in her husband’s steps (with children) 212-13: Timorous has information only from people who turned back 214: Mercy joins them 215: Bat’s-eyes criticizes Xna’s sight 219: false laborers 220: Sagacity (p 207) leaves 220: arrival at Wicket gate; knocking is prayer 224: saved at Wicket gate—looking toward cross 226: dog explained; power of the dog 228: Ill-favored ones assault them 229: Reliever 231: Xna tells of her dream 232: House of Interpreter 243-44: Xna summarizes her experience 246: bath of sanctification 247: why a terror? 247: Great-heart: protector; Hercules? 247: second stage 248: cross 248ff.: discourse on justification 249ff.: multiple kinds of righteousness 251: law, deed, work, labor 253: common vs. special 254: executed for calling good (Gods law) evil (cf. execution at Vanity Fair) 255: Hill of Difficulty 257: Prince’s Arbor 257: effort of climbing a ladder 258: losing place 260: Grim (Bloody-Man)—giant 261: Palace Beautiful 264-66: Mercy’s dream (laugh) - Xna: God speaks in dreams 266-69: catechizing children - Prudence commends Xna for training her children well (267) - When did the catechizing take place? - 269: difficult-to-understand parts of the Bible 270: natural and special revelation 270-71: Mr. Brisk and Mercy - He pretends to love mercy. 272-73: Matthew sick; Eucharist pills 275: tables turned—boys ask Prudence Qs 276: pelican pierces its own breast 277: Eve/apple (see p. 313) 279: Great-heart returns, having killed giant Grim 280: porter’s blessing (cf. church benediction); blessings correlate to their names 281: Piety’s gift of a scheme 281-82: no Apollyon in Valley of Humiliation - Xn had brought the conflict upon himself (“slips”); it’s not haunted 284: X had a country house in Valley of Humiliation 286: Xn was as Hercules 287-88: James sick; pills 289: Valley of Shadow of Death 291: GH/Maul is like David/Goliath - 291: Maul’s sophistry - GH (from House of Interpreter [church?]) might represent an elder 295: Mr. Honest from the town of Stupidity 296: names/namesakes 296-304: Great-heart discusses Mr. Fearing (cf. pp. 174-75) - Slough of Despond in his mind (cf. Hell in PL) - different personalities of believers - Cf. Herbert’s “Love 3” 303: another proverb 303: godly fear 304-08: Honest discusses Mr. Self-will - Imitating the vices of biblical saints - 305: midwives and Rahab lies 308-25: Gaius’s inn - riddles, stories, scripture 310: church history 311-12: value of women 312: hunger for doctrine 314: hard texts are nuts 314-15: Matthew and Mercy married 319-20: giant Slay-good 320-23: Feeble-mind - 323: Not-right struck by lightning 323: James and Phoebe married 325: Ready-to-halt 328-35: Vanity (VF) - Lodge of Mnason [Acts 21:15] - 329: some good people in the town (Dare-not-lie) - 330-31: Contrite says town is more moderate since abusing Faithful; religion is tolerated - 333: Grace marries Samuel; Martha marries Joseph - 333: strangers/pilgrims, but living in the world 334-35: monster/dragon weakens and will likely die 336: location of Faithful’s martyrdom 337: grandchildren already? (376) 337-41: giant Despair killed and Doubting Castle destroyed - 341: Sin can bring it all back. 341-47: Delectable Mts and shepherds - 342: false shepherds - 343-44: multiple mountains - 344: [Ross]: racism re: Ethiopian (I don’t see it) - 345: By-way to Hell (Mercy hears)—cf. Dante (pitying sinners) - 345-46: Mercy wants/gets a looking glass (Bible) 348: meet Valiant-for-truth 352: recognizing others in Heaven 355-56: hymn (“To be a pilgrim”) 356-60: Enchanted Ground - 358: arbor of sloth 361: Standfast on his knees 362-65: Madam Bubble (witch) 365: Land of Beulah 366-67: Death 367: Xna dying in 10 days - 368: praise for godly character - 369: she dies - 370: weeping, but joy too 370-75: more deaths and last words (x8) 376: increase of the church
Discuss Puritanism (use Ryken) TGC: Bunyan not a Baptist...more
The playful attitude was really great, as was the pivot to making lemons out of lemonade. You're not going to be amazing at everything. But have fun dThe playful attitude was really great, as was the pivot to making lemons out of lemonade. You're not going to be amazing at everything. But have fun developing the gifts that you do have....more
Taught several chapters in ENGL 101. A little woke at times, although there are a few good-faith attempts to be fairminded about a controversial issueTaught several chapters in ENGL 101. A little woke at times, although there are a few good-faith attempts to be fairminded about a controversial issue....more
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