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.