Shakespeare vs milton

When one hears the word sonnet, ones first instinctive thought is of
William Shakespeare and his work in the 16th through the 17th centuries. It
makes sense considering all of his work has earned him the title Father of
modern English literature. Of all shakespeare's works, one that earned him
prestige was his 18th sonnet. However, shortly after Shakespeares death had
come a new poet that had taken the spotlight, John Milton. Miltons work as a
poet had dared to defy the groundwork and guidelines that Shakespeare had
set up in his time to what a standard sonnet was. Looking at Miltons When I
consider how my light is spent it is clear how he manipulates the poems
form and style as well as the message to the audience to step away from the
traditional conventions of the English sonnet.
The key aspect of Miltons sonnets that differ from works of a
traditional English poet is the form it is written in. Milton actually wrote his
poetry in the form of an Italian sonnet which is very similar to Shakespeares
variant yet challenged the audience in the way they were accustomed to
reading. Both methods use iambic pentameter to tell a story in fourteen
lines, but the rhyme pattern is in a rearranged order. It should be noted that
Milton has trouble keeping his diction within ten syllables per line. Milton
would often abbreviate words in order to make them fit this restriction rather
than find a more suitable word. In a Shakespearean sonnet the rhyme
scheme is every other line in 3 quatrains followed by a couplet. The three
quatrains tell the story or conflict about someone or something followed by
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the finishing couplet revealing the answer or a solution to the problem. In

The case of Shakespeares 18th sonnet he is telling the audience about a
young woman, possibly a lover in the first stanza. In the following stanza he
realizes that beauty is not forever and that soon the beauty will fade away as
it does with all people. The third stanza Shakespeare realizes that his work
will last forever, therefore he can record her beauty. The solution found in the
couplet is that so long as people read his work, this womans beauty will live
on through his words rather than by flesh. In Miltonian sonnets the first two
stanzas normally use the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA followed by CDE CDE.
Hence, there are two stanzas that depict ones own problem and two stanzas
coming to a conclusion about its tale.
The central theme of Miltons work were self-centered rather than
expressive of feelings or emotions for another. When I consider how my light
is spent establishes very quickly that it is about Miltons battle with
blindness. Instead of making this short story about someone he sees or
something that brings people joy, he uses his poem to tell the audience of
how he coped with his disability. But it was not just a fear of what he would
do without sight. It was the fear that god would punish him for not being able
to serve him. How could Milton serve god if he cannot see? He asks for
answers and receives an unexpected answer. God doesnt need him to serve
with his sight. God has thousands of followers serving him hand and foot. Nor
does God want his own gifts given to man returned to him. In Shakespeares
sonnets the audience is given fine details of his muse and how her beauty
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will be preserved through his hand. She is as magnificent as the most perfect
time of the year yet she is more peaceful than it. He stays with that
comparison to nature though knowing that even summer comes to an end
followed by autumns cold kiss. Fret not though, for not even god or death
himself can take away her perfection from Shakespeare.
Views on religion and politics varied between Shakespeare and Milton
as the restoration unfolded. While it is believed that Shakespeare was
Catholic, in his time such religious practices were not allowed. There was
only the Church of England. Milton gained fame as the servant of
government of Oliver Cromwell. Following the beheading of king Charles I
there was eleven years without monarchy leaving England as a Republican
Commonwealth. Both Milton and Cromwell were Puritans in a time where
Puritans strived for a English church striped of its elaborate ceremonies
connected to Catholicism and its pope. Milton being a supporter of the
commonwealth uses his influence for the benefit of Puritan rule by his
publications. Shortly after Milton goes blind and falls into despair for worry of
now being unable to serve god. Despite Miltons crippling disability he still
found it possible to move audiences with his work.
To review, in less than a century a standard in writing implanted by one
of the greatest writers of modern time has been contorted and
metamorphosed into a new form by John Milton. Though the two forms share
key features such as tempo and length theyre spoken quite differently with

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their individual rhyme scheme. The subject matter between the two is
definitely exclusive to their own making it easy for someone to pick their
preference based on genre alone. What might have come of Miltons
technique if he followed the same religious guidelines and laws as
Shakespeare? Did it change the conventions of the sonnet for the better?

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