The Radical Change in the Perceptionof Death in the 17th Century and Milton's Lycidas

Abstract

With respect to the idea of death, the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation had a great influence on the artistic and poetic imagination of 17th century England. As a result, the age saw a revolution in the expressions of bereavement and loss in art and literature such as painting, sculpture, poetry and music. Milton's Lycidas is no exception. Just like the commissioning of a painting, a tomb and the bereaved funeral, a creation of an elegy such as Lycidas should be viewed as a part of the same process of mourning. As the radical change in the attitudes towards the dead was brought about initially at the theological level in the form of the abolition of the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, focusing upon this problem of Purgatory, I believe, will provide us with an interesting perspective in the consideration of the relation between the living Milton and the departed Edward King. I also believe that the refusal of the doctrine of Purgatory by reformed Protestants had accelerated the individualization in the perception of death, in their funeral customs, as well as in the manner of their emotional expression towards the departed, Lycidas being a good case in point.