Mammon's Music: Literature and Economics in the Age of MiltonYale University Press, 2008 M10 1 - 336 pages The commercial revolution of the seventeenth century deeply changed English culture. In this ambitious book, Blair Hoxby explores what that economic transformation meant to the century’s greatest poet, John Milton, and to the broader literary tradition in which he worked. Hoxby places Milton’s work—as well as the writings of contemporary reformers like the Levellers, poets like John Dryden, and political economists like Sir William Petty—within the framework of England’s economic history between 1601 and 1724. Literary history swerved in this period, Hoxby demonstrates, as a burgeoning economic discourse pressed authors to reimagine ideas about self, community, and empire. Hoxby shows that, contrary to commonly held views, Milton was a sophisticated economic thinker. Close readings of Milton’s prose and verse reveal the importance of economic ideas in a wide range of his most famous writings, from Areopagitica to Samson Agonistes to Paradise Lost. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 84
Page 6
... English to learn from the commer- cial practices of the Dutch.21 The religious beliefs of authors like Worsley , Robinson , and Petty , who still figure in histories of economic thought , were neither in conflict with nor irrelevant to ...
... English to learn from the commer- cial practices of the Dutch.21 The religious beliefs of authors like Worsley , Robinson , and Petty , who still figure in histories of economic thought , were neither in conflict with nor irrelevant to ...
Page 10
... English society , and they recognized that few economic ideas were innocent of political or religious implications . By remaining alert to the circumstances in which authors wrote , I endeavor not only to recapture some of the ...
... English society , and they recognized that few economic ideas were innocent of political or religious implications . By remaining alert to the circumstances in which authors wrote , I endeavor not only to recapture some of the ...
Page 13
... English roots may be traced back to John Bale and John Fox.40 We might refer to these in shorthand as Milton's humanism and his millenarianism . In what follows , I will periodically relate Milton's engagement with economic discourse to ...
... English roots may be traced back to John Bale and John Fox.40 We might refer to these in shorthand as Milton's humanism and his millenarianism . In what follows , I will periodically relate Milton's engagement with economic discourse to ...
Page 28
... liberties of English subjects.15 It therefore had to be shown that such char- ters did not benefit but harmed the commonwealth . Invoking the traditional charge that monopolists were bloodsuck- ers — 28 VIRTUE , COMMERCE , TRUTH.
... liberties of English subjects.15 It therefore had to be shown that such char- ters did not benefit but harmed the commonwealth . Invoking the traditional charge that monopolists were bloodsuck- ers — 28 VIRTUE , COMMERCE , TRUTH.
Page 29
... English manufactures by producing or trad- ing goods of inferior quality . It was imperative that trade be confined to " well experimented merchants . ” " 19 Domestic businessmen such as clothiers and retailers who wished to integrate ...
... English manufactures by producing or trad- ing goods of inferior quality . It was imperative that trade be confined to " well experimented merchants . ” " 19 Domestic businessmen such as clothiers and retailers who wished to integrate ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
57 | |
Part Three Force Commerce and Empire | 125 |
Part Four The Meaning of Work | 201 |
Conclusion | 233 |
Abbreviations | 253 |
Notes | 255 |
Index | 311 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Amboyna Amsterdam Annus Mirabilis arch Areopagitica argued arguments Benjamin Worsley Book Cambridge University Press century chap chapter Charles Davenant Charles II Charles II's City claim commercial common Commonwealth Comus Comus's contemporary Court Crown Davenant Davenant's discourse Dryden Dutch early Stuarts East India Company economic empire England English Englishmen entrepôt epic force and commerce free trade George Wither Gerbier ideal Indies industry interest James John king labor liberty lines London Lord Masque merchants Milton monarchy monopolists monopoly nation natural naval nomic Oxford pamphlet panegyrics Paradise Lost Parliament Philistines poem poem's poets policies political Princeton Puritan Readie and Easie reformers religious republicans Restoration Revolution royal entry Royalist Rump Rump's Samson Agonistes Satan Second Anglo-Dutch Second Anglo-Dutch War ships Sir William slavery slaves subjects suggest texts thir Third Anglo-Dutch War Thomas tion Towerson tracts tradition truth United Provinces verse vision vols Waller wealth