Milton in the Long Restoration
This two-day conference will bring together literary critics, historians, and musicologists to reconsider the coherence of the historical period from the execution of Charles I in 1649 to the Jacobite defeat in 1746, emphasizing the centrality of Milton throughout.
Milton in the Long Restoration will test the power of three propositions: (1) that the years from 1649 to 1746 form a distinct and coherent period that deserves to be defined as a Long Restoration; (2) that we cannot rightly interpret Milton’s late prose and poetry in isolation from authors–such as Denham, Davenant, and Dryden–who are more often yoked into historical narratives that exclude Milton; and (3) that although the Romantics may be true heirs of Milton, they are not his first true heirs: we ignore the record of Milton’s early reception and appropriation at our peril, for these early readers of Milton have left a remarkably rich record of imaginative response, puzzlement, and contestation.
Please contact the organizers to register and request access to pre-circulated papers.
The conference will feature a public performance of Milton’s Comus (as performed at the Theatres Royal in Drury Lane and Covent-Garden)—at 12:30 pm on Saturday, April 26, in the Black Community Services Center at 418 Santa Teresa Street (next door to the Humanities Center).
Panel topics include:
The Material World
Household, Congregation, Nation
Milton and the Emergence of Critical Theory
Influence and Appropriation
Milton and the Political Future
Epic and Mock Epic
Epic, Mock Epic, and the Novel
Presenters include:
Greg Chaplin, Bridgewater State University
Ann Baynes Coiro, Rutgers University
Martin Dzelzainis, University of Leicester
Sophie Gee, Princeton University
Denise Gigante, èצӰÏñ
Blaine Greteman, University of Iowa
David Harper, U. S. Military Academy, West Point
Blair Hoxby, èצӰÏñ
Laura Knoppers, Pennsylvania State University
John Leonard, University of Western Ontario
Jayne Lewis, UC Irvine
Michael McKeon, Rutgers University
Catherine Gimelli Martin, Unversity of Memphis
Christopher R. Miller, CUNY Staten Island
Mary Nyquist, University of Toronto
Jason Peacey, University College London
Joanna Picciotto, UC Berkeley
Steven Pincus, Yale University
Nigel Smith, Princeton University
Ruth Smith, Cambridge University
Dustin Stewart, Agnes Scott College
N. K. Sugimura, Georgetown University
Nicholas von Maltzahn, University of Ottawa
Anthony Welch, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Abigail Zitin, Rutgers University
Steven Zwicker, Washington University, St. Louis
Anne-Julia Zwierlein, University of Regensburg
For a detailed schedule visit
Directions and parking:
Sponsors: Generously supported by the Gene J. and Betye Monell Burton Fund in the èצӰÏñ Arts Institute, the èצӰÏñ Humanities Center, the Dean of Humanities, the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, departments of English and History, the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, the British Studies Lecture Series, and the Seminar on Enlightenment and Revolution