Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

      Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is without doubt the finest of all the Middle English romances, for its mastery of plot handling, its realism, characterization, descriptive powers, and use of the alliterative long lines. At times the poet achieves real heights in his poetry which can stand comparison with that of any period. It occurs in the same manuscript along with Pearl, Purity and Patience, which are supposed to be the work of the same man, of whom nothing is known.It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who challenges any one of the assembled Knights to give him one stroke on the head by the great axe he holds in hand, provided that he comes to him in a twelve month and a day and receives a same stroke from him. As they are all hesitating, for the honour of the Round Table and King Arthur, Sir Gawain, the King's nephew takes the axe and beheads the unknown Knight. Unmoved the Green Knight picks up the head calling upon Gawain to keep his word, departs at a gallop. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving Lady Bertilak, the lady of the Green Knight's castle. It is an important example of a chivalric romance, which typically involves a hero who goes on a quest which tests his prowess. In the liveliness and variety of its scenes, mingling of the marvelous and the natural, human and dramatic interest and the delicate psychology of characterization, the poem is unique among romances. It is a medieval romance in which Sir Gawain is held up as the model of virtue and chivalry.

Areopagitica

           Areopagitica is a noble and impassioned plea for the liberty of the Press. It takes its name from the Areopagitic speech by the Greek orator Isocrates in the 4^th century B.C. The ancient address called for a revival of the power and prestige of the high court of Athens, the Areopagus. The tract by Milton was occasioned by the Licensing Act of June 14, 1643, which required that all books be licensed by an official censor before publication. Milton’s work is addressed to parliament in an attempt to persuade its members to repeal the restrictive measure. Milton reviews the entire history of censorship from ancient  times. It has always been tyrannical. He defends the free employment of books in order to attain knowledge in a complex world where good and evil are woven together. Milton reaches eloquent heights in his central contention that men cannot be made virtuous by compulsion. Milton Attacks the measure as a hindrance to the search for truth and a threat of intellectual stagnation.When we consider the style of Milton’s prose we must keep in mind how it was occasioned. His pamphlets were cast off at white heat and precipitated into print while some topic was in urgent debate either in Milton’s or the public mind. Hence in method they are tempestuous and disordered; voluble, violent, and lax in style. They reveal intense zeal and pugnacity, a rich fancy and a capacious scholarship. They lack humour, proportion and restraint; but in spite of these defects they are among the greatest controversial compositions in the language.