Discuss the prose style of Milton in Areopagitica.

The prose style of this epistle is one that is based around the principles of rhetoric. Milton seeks to argue his point, which in this case concerns the need for freedom of speech and in particular the right to publish pamphlets without official sanction. He does this through the principles of rhetoric, using a number of different tactics and strategies in order to prove his point. Mythical allusions, rhetorical questions, sarcasm, anticipating opposing arguments: these are all essential ingredients of his prose style. Note, for example, the following quote, that comes after Milton has just spent two paragraphs describing how man is destined to live in a world where good and evil coexist:

Since therefore the knowledge and survey of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human virtue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with less danger, scout into the regions of sin and falsity than by reading all manner of tractates and hearing all manner of reason? And this is the benefit which may be had of books promiscuously read.

Note the way that Milton begins by referencing to what he has already shown in the prior paragraphs: man lives in a world where good and evil coexist, and therefore has to know what evil looks like in order to develop "human virtue." He then uses a rhetorical question, which assumes agreement with his point, to argue that the publishing of pamphlets forms an excellent role in the process of "scanning of error." Lastly, the use of the word "promiscuously" in the final sentence is of course sarcastic, as this is an adverb that is used in a derogatory fashion, and Milton uses it to attack his opponents who believe this, as he is arguing the opposite, saying that "books promiscuously read" can actually be very positive and helpful. Milton's prose style thus demonstrates excellent mastery of rhetorical strategies as he seeks to establish his argument and make his point.

What's an interesting aspect of Milton's style in Areopagitica?

One interesting point about Milton's style is his use of the classical rhetorical elements of ethos and logos while omitting pathos. To understand this, we'll define these terms, then examine one or two instances.

Ethos is the rhetorical technique of building or asserting the credibility of the speaker. Ethos establishes the speaker's or writer's right to speak or write. Milton employs ethos in several places in the opening paragraphs but the clearest example is when he asserts that by speaking out to the governing Houses of Lords and Commons he is proving his "fidelity" and his "loyalty."

For he who freely magnifies what hath been nobly done, and fears not to declare as freely what might be done better, gives ye the best covenant of his fidelity; and that his loyalest affection and his hope waits on your proceedings.

He can assert this because he has previously proven that in a democratic state, built upon the ancient republican freedoms of Greece and Rome, speaking out with valid complaints against the government is the highest demonstration of the liberty they all possess.

when complaints are freely heard, deeply considered and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men look for.

This leads to a discussion of logos. Logos is the presentation of clear and reasonable logic that proves the case being stated. The above quotation is part of just such a presentation of logos. Milton lays out the logical demonstration that to speak out against the government with just cause to do so is to "promote their country's liberty." He attests that it is with "joy" that he brings a grievance before the government because a nation of liberties cannot hope that there will be "no grievance ever" but that complaints will be "freely heard, deeply considered and speedily reformed."

Now we'll consider pathos. Pathos is the use of heightened emotional appeals to persuade. While some may think Milton's way of addressing the Lords and Commons is a form of pathos employed through flattery--a ploy Milton denounces, "can demonstrate that he flatters not"--since flattery plays upon the listeners' emotional states thus making them more amenable to persuasion, it is incorrect to understand Milton's form of address this way.

it will be attributed first, as is most due, to the strong assistance of God our deliverer, next to your faithful guidance and undaunted wisdom, Lords and Commons of England.

It must be understood that there were strictly prescribed forms of courtly address that showed ample deference and respect coupled with humility (if Milton had foregone these forms of courtly manners, he may have found himself locked in the Tower of London ...). Thus it can be shown that Milton omits the use of pathos from this treatise, which depends upon ethos and logos.

How does Milton's prose style in "Areopagitica" compare to his poetic style?

As far as Milton's prose style is concerned, I believe it's safe to say that he based the majority of his prosaic writings on the concept of rhetoric—or, more specifically, the three modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. The three elements are often used to convince the audience of the author's credibility by appealing to their ethics and moral code (ethos), by appealing to their emotions (pathos), and by appealing to their logical thinking and reasoning (logos). In his prosaic works, Milton usually used logos and sometimes ethos, but he rarely uses pathos.

In his poems, he is known for his epic style, in which he glorifies beauty in all shapes and forms and perhaps relies more on pathos and less on logos and ethos. This is commonly known in literature as the "grand style" or "high style" of writing, which has a heightened emotional tone. Milton's poetic style was very influential and inspired many other writers; he popularized the use of the blank verse, or the unrhymed iambic pentameter, so much so that a new poetic structure known in literature as the Miltonic verse (or the Miltonic epic) was created.

What aspects of Milton's personality are revealed in Areopagitica?

Areopagitica reveals Milton to be a man with a great deal of faith in the individual, and in particular in the power of learning to combat error. Milton attacks the licensing laws, which enabled Parliament to censor certain publications, by claiming that people can improve themselves and become more virtuous through exposure to different ideas. While books can contain evil and harmful ideas, the individual can fortify himself against them through study. Arguing that one can not know virtue without knowing its opposite, Milton had faith that the individual, once exposed to error, could also find through reading the reason and the knowledge with which to combat it. Claiming that he could not "praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue," Milton urged Parliament to show faith in the wisdom of the English people:

Lords and Commons of England, consider what Nation it is whereof ye are, and whereof ye are the governours: a Nation not slow and dull, but of a quick, ingenious, and piercing spirit, acute to invent, suttle and sinewy to discours, not beneath the reach of any point the highest that human capacity can soar to.

Milton also revealed himself as a man of formidable learning. The title of Areopagitica is itself a reference to a speech delivered by Isocrates in Athens, and the pamphlet is replete with other examples from Athens, Rome, and the Bible that support his argument. His love for learning and for books is summed up in the following emotional passage, perhaps the best known in the work:

...as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature, Gods Image; but hee who destroyes a good Booke, kills reason it selfe, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the Earth; but a good Booke is the pretious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm'd and treasur'd up on purpose to a life beyond life.