Resumen
Resumen de Areopagítica
Para quién es
For readers who care about free expression, the history of the press, or the roots of English prose and politics, and anyone drawn to arguments about censorship and the search for truth.
De qué trata este libro
Areopagitica is a pamphlet by John Milton, published in 1644 during the English Civil War. Milton wrote it as a speech addressed to Parliament, though he never delivered it aloud. He published it without a licence and without a printer's name, which was the very thing the law of the day forbade. Its target was the Licensing Order of 1643, which required every book to be approved by an official before it could be printed.
The title points to the Areopagus, a hill in Athens where a council met, and to a speech by the Athenian orator Isocrates. Milton borrows that older example to ask a sitting Parliament to be wiser than its own law. In this summary you will hear his main arguments in order. They concern history, reading, the judgement of licensers, the nature of books, and the search for truth. We begin with the law Milton attacked and the moment in which he wrote.
En este resumen
- 1One law and one angry writerFree
- 2Licensing has a bad family tree
- 3Virtue must be tested, not sheltered
- 4Licensers are fallible and licensing fails
- 5A book is a living thing and truth needs room
- 6What Milton allowed, and what became of the pamphlet
Idea clave 1 de 6
One law and one angry writer
The Licensing Order was passed by Parliament in June 1643. It said that no book, pamphlet or paper could be printed unless it had first been approved by appointed licensers. The Stationers' Company, the guild of London printers and booksellers, helped to enforce it. England was at war with the king, and Parliament wanted to control what the presses said.
Milton had a personal stake. He had already published a tract on divorce, and critics attacked it. He had no wish to see such work blocked before it reached the public. Still, the pamphlet does not read as a private complaint. It reads as an appeal to men whom Milton admired and whom he thought were making a serious mistake.
He opens with respect. He praises Parliament for its courage in resisting tyranny, and he says he speaks as one who wants its work to succeed. That tone matters. He is not asking for a revolt against the government. He is asking it to stay true to the liberty it claims to defend.
His case rests on one simple claim. A people who have fought for freedom should not be treated like children who cannot be trusted with a book. The rest of the pamphlet builds that claim step by step, and the first step is to look at where licensing came from.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 18,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 10 min
- Listening time2 h
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages