"Perplex't paths": youth and authority in Milton's Mask.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0126513 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0034-4338 (Print) Linking ISSN: 00344338 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Renaiss Q

Publication: <2019-> : Cambridge : Cambridge University Press
Original Publication: New York, Renaissance Society of America.

Adolescent Development*/physiology ; Anthropology, Cultural*/education ; Anthropology, Cultural*/history ; Child Welfare*/ethnology ; Child Welfare*/history ; Child Welfare*/psychology ; Literature*/history ; Psychology, Adolescent*/education ; Psychology, Adolescent*/history ; Religion*/history ; Social Conditions*/economics ; Social Conditions*/history ; Social Conditions*/legislation & jurisprudence; Adolescent ; Adolescent Behavior/ethnology ; Adolescent Behavior/physiology ; Adolescent Behavior/psychology ; Authorship ; Child ; Child Development/physiology ; Child Guidance/education ; Child Guidance/history ; Education/history ; Hierarchy, Social ; History, 17th Century ; Humans ; Publications/history ; Social Dominance ; United Kingdom/ethnology

Milton J

This essay argues that John Milton's "A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle" (1634) is influenced by early modern concepts of childhood in a way that critics have not recognized. Childhood was a problematic concept in contemporary religious, pedagogical, and legal discourses. Children were depicted as models of submission, but prone to impetuous indiscretion, and their path to adult agency was strewn with pitfalls, especially in the liminal period of youth. "A Mask" engages with and transforms these discourses. It rejects the political quietism routinely associated with childhood and shows that the child's unique sensitivity may offer a route to a particularly powerful kind of voice.

Date Created: 20090916 Date Completed: 20091020 Latest Revision: 20191027

20231215

10.1086/599866

19750599