Essays on Areopagitica

John Milton’s Areopagitica was written in 1644, and handed to the English Parliament, as a response to Parliament’s laws on censorship in order to preserve “order and uniformity in church and state” (Norton 1). Anything that was disagreeable to the government was banned, after being reviewed by Parliament. Milton argues that this mass censorship of books, newspaper articles, and other printed items was (find quote about m saying its ridiculous); Milton believes it’s okay to be in the wrong, as…

Written as a protest to the English Parliament which attempted to hold control of the press by passing a censorship law in 1643, Milton’s Areopagitica is an appeal towards the freedom of unlicensed printing and speech. The present motif in Milton’s argument is the connection between good and evil, which came into the world by Adam’s transgression: the comprehension of good comes through the knowledge of evil. In order to distinguish good, evil must be present. In this phrase, Milton…