Shakespeare vs Milton: The Kings of English Literature Debate

Intelligence Squared

News, Society & Culture, Arts, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2014

⏱️ 134 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nearly four centuries after his death, no writer has come close to matching Shakespeare’s understanding of the world – or his gift for dramatic poetry. It’s 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’s 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’re speaking the Bard’s English. Milton, say his fans, works on an altogether different, higher plane. In Paradise Lost – the best poem ever written in English – Milton moved beyond the literary to address political, philosophical and religious questions in a way... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Sure, this is Peloton. This is a 15 minute low impact ride.
0:05.6	But so is this.
0:07.2	We're here together for a 10 minute empathy meditation.
0:10.5	And even this.
0:11.9	We get here in with a 20 minute hip-hop shadow boxes session.
0:16.7	Ah!
0:17.7	What more could you ask for?
0:18.7	Well, with thousands of classes on our bike treading app, there's more to Peloton than you might have thought. This is Peloton.
0:25.0	Internet Connection and Peloton all acts as membership required. C1 Peloton.
0:30.0	UK. This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max.
0:34.0	Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better.
0:38.0	Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra oint,
0:42.0	or building a playlist that will even get your
0:44.8	none up on the table or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max. Christmas better with Pepsi Max.
0:55.0	Thank you for downloading this Intelligence Square podcast.
1:00.0	For more information on our debates, talks and discussions,
1:03.5	visit Intelligence Square.com and sign up to the newsletter.
1:07.0	Shakespeare versus Milton, The Kings of English Literature Debate.
1:11.0	This event took place on the 22nd of June 2014 at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
1:17.0	Welcome to this Intelligence Squared debate.
1:21.0	Shakespeare versus Milton, the Kings of English literature.
1:26.8	We know what Milton thought of Shakespeare.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Intelligence Squared, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Intelligence Squared and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.