Milton's rite of passage: The function of form in the Italian sonnets

Abstract

John Milton's Italian sonnets are more significant than they are generally thought to be. In spite of attempts to revive interest in them, they are among the poet's least valued works. In this dissertation, I demonstrate that the practices of publishing the sonnets out of their original order and including English translations along side of the original Italian alter readings of the sonnets by altering their context. These practices are largely responsible for the sonnets' poor reception. In addition to being altered by editorial practices and translations, the context in which the sonnets are received has been altered by changing views about Milton's biography. The present study, therefore, also involves an examination of the way biographical studies can affect interpretation. Reading the poems in their original order and considering their arrangement as purposeful and artistic expands the possibilities for interpretation. My particular reading of the sonnet sequence reveals Milton's self-conscious, retrospective portrayal of a rite of passage in which he prepares to assume a mature and public role. The sonnets show that new understandings of religious and secular love motivate the poet to represent his views in a public form. In his presentation and arrangement of Sonnets 1-7, the poet translates personal conflict into social and political action, and he uses the interplay of tbe English and Italian languages and traditions to dramatize his relationship and responsibility to his native land and the world at large.