With the launch of our new online course, the Idler Guide to Paradise Lost, course leader Anna Beer relates some of the ideas and events that led Milton to write this extraordinary and still relevant poem

Rishi Sunak, at first sight, has an unlikely ally in John Milton, who was dubious, at best, about his experience of formal education at the University of Cambridge. Not quite a “rip-off degree” but he didn’t like the, to his mind, old-fashioned course he was taking; he resented the conservatism of his tutors; and he definitely didn’t rate (most of) his fellow students, writing that they simply recycled other people’s ideas.

They in turn bullied him fairly relentlessly for what they perceived as his effeminacy. (I’m pleased to report that young John fought back, and in Latin.) Finding the intellectual atmosphere at Christ’s College stultifying, Milton was, it seems, relieved when he was “rusticated”, although whether he was pushed or jumped is not entirely clear.

And yet Milton would be, throughout his life, one of the most passionate and articulate advocates of education, in its broadest sense, not only in the school room or the Cambridge quad. He argued that we should all be learning, every day of our lives, developing our critical thinking, our love of beauty, our capacity to engage in conversation.

Underpinning this advocacy were Milton’s political beliefs. These were (and might still be) unpalatable to political leaders. Milton believed in the vital importance of an educated citizenry, who through their education – and that meant far more than literacy and numeracy – would bring about a civil society that could live in peace. Leaders would have to be accountable to their canny, astute citizenry, who would not be fooled by the lies and promises of those bent on tyranny.

Milton’s tract “Of Education” sets out part of the vision, but his other works reflect his commitment just as clearly. So does his life. This is a man who having already mastered four or five languages, would add Dutch in his 40s, and embark on the remarkable creation of Paradise Lost when approaching 60, despite a series of potentially devastating losses – including his eyesight.

Paradise Lost was, and remains, a challenge to its readers – but a good challenge. [Ed: You can learn more about the delights of this remarkable poem by taking our new online course, the Idler Guide to Paradise Lost with Anna Beer.]

John Milton’s nightmare is an unthinkingly obedient populace. He dreams of a free Commonwealth whose leaders “walk the streets as other men, may be spoken to freely, familiarly, friendly, without adoration”. He states his profound conviction that the “whole freedom of man consists either in spiritual or civil liberty”. The latter is most likely to occur in a Commonwealth which will ensure “the civil rights and advancements of every person according to his merit”.

These phrases come from a pamphlet that the Republican Milton rushed out when he knew that his own political dream was almost over, knew that the return of monarchy would mean, for him, exile or death.

He escaped the regime change with his life but not much else. Out of the ashes came Paradise Lost, a poem designed to challenge and delight its readers, to engage us with its many ideas and with each other. It was Milton’s way of keeping the conversation going.

Thirty years earlier, after his frustrating Cambridge years, Milton had found his happy place: Italy. There he found true friends, music and art and wine and food, and above all he found the academies of Florence and Venice. He became something of a star, his brilliance with language, his intellectual and creative talent suddenly valued rather than despised. These were spaces in which men – and sometimes even women – debated and explored and laughed and argued about anything and everything. For Milton it was indeed paradisal. I like to think he carried Italy with him throughout his life, just as he stayed close to the dear friends he made there.

You will find Italy mentioned only once or twice in Paradise Lost but the spirit of the place and its academies is present in the eloquence, joy, richness and complexity of the poem, which Milton expects, perhaps even demands, us to read with equal passion.

Anna Beer is a cultural historian, Renaissance literature scholar, and author of several books, including Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer, and Patriot.

Join Anna on our new online course, The Idler Guide to Paradise Lost.

Note: this course is FREE for Idler Academy members.

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