Milton's attitude toward women

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Marianne Sewell Aiken (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Jean Gagen

Abstract: Milton lived in a period of transition affecting many aspects of life, among them the status of women. Age-old conservative beliefs were still alive and had a temporary resurgence under the Puritan hegemony, but liberal forces were also at work. The poet had the misfortune to be involved in a particularly unhappy marriage. After a youth spent largely in study, with little contact with young women, he hastily married an immature Royalist bride, Mary Powell. Her refusal to return to Milton after she had left him in the early months of the marriage to visit her family suggests that Hilton and Mary Powell were incompatible from the start. Though there was a reconciliation later, Hilton's relationship with her, her whole -family, and, after her death, her children as well, was replete with friction and bitterness. Two later marriages were more successful, but evidently did little to erase the hurt Hilton received in the first one.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1965
Subjects
Milton, John, $d 1608-1674 $x Criticism and interpretation
Milton, John, $d 1608-1674 $x Characters $x Women

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