"Generous Arts and Affaires": Milton on Labor

Abstract

abstract:What can Milton's writings teach us about early modern and modern conceptions of labor? How does Milton participate in, imagine, and justify labor? The answers to such questions are especially relevant for academics today, as Milton's definitions of work and productivity include intellectual labor and public-facing humanities practices. The figures and discourses that Milton employs to represent "labor"—whose classical significances range from industry and exertion to lapse—are shown here to convey social, economic, psychological, and literary resonances.