Ohio University bulletin Summer school, 1909 . So marked was Johnsonspreference for classic standards that he at oncedecided that anything out of accord with themwas fundamentally defective. Voltaire evensaid that the most impassioned speeches ofOthello were nothing more than the merestempty ravings of a madman. Yet how dif-ferent the verdict of time! The reader of Bagehots opinion of Miltonwill find his credulity over-taxed. It wouldbe absurd to say that Bagehot does not pre-sent some of the most discriminating appre-ciations in the field of criticism. Yet thisarticle seeks to show that he di
Ohio University bulletin Summer school, 1909 . So marked was Johnsonspreference for classic standards that he at oncedecided that anything out of accord with themwas fundamentally defective. Voltaire evensaid that the most impassioned speeches ofOthello were nothing more than the merestempty ravings of a madman. Yet how dif-ferent the verdict of time! The reader of Bagehots opinion of Miltonwill find his credulity over-taxed. It wouldbe absurd to say that Bagehot does not pre-sent some of the most discriminating appre-ciations in the field of criticism. Yet thisarticle seeks to show that he did not escapethe fascination that critical work sometimesoffers. Much that he has said about Miltonis invalidated by his extravagance of asser-tion. His attitude, though erroneous, is cer-tainly unique. From the internal evidenceof Paradise Lost, it would seem that he ofteninterprets Milton contrary to the poets funda-mental notions. Many of Bagehots misleading statementsof Miltons general plan are due to the fact OHIO UNIVERSITY BULLETIN 135. Jackson County that he does not distinguish carefully betweenthe poets attitude and that of his Satan, for instance, says in his defeat thatit is Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven,we must not understand this to be Miltonssentiment. This sort of mistake in interpre-tation has been made by men of considerableliterary power. A short time after Maud ap-peared, Mr. Gladstone insisted that Tennysonwas guilty of the pathetic fallacy in theselines:I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood,Its lips in the field above are dabbled with blood-red heath,The red-ribbd ledges drip with a silent horror of bloodAnd Echo there, whatever is askd her, answers great statesman overlooked the fact thatthis antipathy towards nature was that of ason who bewailed the death of his unfor-tunate father. In later years, however, Glad-stone saw his error. Time and again Shakespeare is identifiedwith all types of characters. Th
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