Shakespeare vs Milton: The Kings of English Literature Debate
b'Nearly four centuries after his death, no writer has come close to matching Shakespeare\\u2019s understanding of the world \\u2013 or his gift for dramatic poetry. It\\u2019s not just kings and queens that he captured so uniquely in his transcendent verse. Shakespeare analysed the human condition, not just for Elizabethan England, but throughout the world and for eternity. Britain may not have matched the Continent for music or art but when it comes to literature, Shakespeare sees off all international rivals, whether it\\u2019s in the spheres of comedy, tragedy or the sonnet. Even today you and I quote Shakespeare without knowing it: if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if you vanish into thin air or have ever been tongue-tied, hoodwinked or slept not one wink, you\\u2019re speaking the Bard\\u2019s English.\\n\\nMilton, say his fans, works on an altogether different, higher plane. In Paradise Lost \\u2013 the best poem ever written in English \\u2013 Milton moved beyond the literary to address political, philosophical and religious questions in a way... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.\\n \\n\\xa0See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices'