Caucasus Journal of Milton Studies

Milton On Divorce: It All Comes Down to Freedom

2024-03-26T09:53:08+00:00

Ask John Milton just about any question, and the answer will likely be the same: “Freedom!” He was suspended from his studies at Cambridge University for expressing opinions that differed from his supervisor’s. In Areopagitica, he argued for the freedom to publish without prior licensing from the government. In Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, Milton made the case for the freedom of both husbands and wives to end an unsuccessful marriage. Whether in the interests of authors to publish without interference
from the state or in matters as personal as marriage and divorce, Milton makes the case that individuals have the right to make their own decisions. He cites passages from the Mosaic law, codified in Deuteronomy, and from the Gospel and Pauline letter of the New Testament to support the idea of the freedom to divorce and to counter the entrenched opposition of the church and state to divorce under any conditions. When, as expected, Milton’s divorce tracts meet with open and published hostility, he comes back with four defenses, two in prose, Tetrachordon and Colasterion, and two in verse Sonnets XI and XII. He will be vindicated–eventually. Centuries after Milton’s commentaries, the English Parliament changed divorce laws to align with John Milton’s argument for individual freedom.

Don’t Write to Me, To T.M. by Mirza Gelovani

2024-03-26T09:56:53+00:00

Don’t Write to Me
To T.M.
Mirza Gelovani
Translated from Georgian to English by Eter Churadze

Impromptu by Mirza Gelovani

2024-03-26T10:00:23+00:00

Impromptu
Mirza Gelovani
Translated from Georgian to English by Lela Ebralidze

Please Forgive by Mirza Gelovani

2024-03-26T10:03:46+00:00

Please Forgive
Mirza Gelovani
Translated from Georgian to English by Lela Ebralidze

Sonnet XI and Sonnet XII by John Milton

2024-03-26T10:06:34+00:00

Sonnets XI and XII by John Milton
Translated from English to Georgian by Nino Kvitsinadze

The Ship in the Desert

2024-03-26T10:09:49+00:00

The old woman stepped out of her run-down house on a gloomy evening. The sky was torn between two options - vesting the earth with a white shield or drenching it with drizzling drops. She liked night walks more than anything else. She cherished the existence of night and wondered why there was no space for sunbeams or blooming trees ...

Black Piper

2024-03-26T10:13:24+00:00

Black Piper by
Johanna Ataman

Touch Of Love

2024-03-26T10:16:15+00:00

Touch Of Love
Abdullahi Yahaya

Ares: A Poem, Books IV and V

2024-03-26T10:18:22+00:00

Ares: A Poem
Books VI and V

101 Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

2024-03-26T10:20:27+00:00

101 Literary Devices and Figures of Speech