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Allusion
Explanation and Analysis—Milton and Cromwell:
Hardy references John Milton and Oliver Cromwell by name in the following passage from Chapter 18, alluding to their respective writings and political theories:
The typical and unvarying Hodge ceased to exist. He had been disintegrated into a number of varied fellow-creatures—beings of many minds, beings infinite in difference; some happy, many serene, a few depressed, one here and there bright even to genius, some stupid, others wanton, others austere; some mutely Miltonic, some potentially Cromwellian.
John Milton, a famous 16th-century poet and essayist, was violently opposed to the tyrannic reign of King Charles I and supported the movement to depose and eventually execute him. Milton used biblical rationale to justify his extreme and controversial opinions, chief among which was his assertion that divorce could, under certain circumstances, be moral.
Oliver Cromwell, a contemporary of Milton, led the English people in a revolt against the tyrannical King Charles I in what became known as the English Civil War.
Both Milton and Cromwell are famous English radical revolutionaries. In the above passage, Hardy invokes Milton and Cromwell to establish that these farm workers are not all the same: some may be stupid, but still others could be geniuses, and some might even be budding revolutionaries if given the opportunity and resources to make a stand.
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