The Licensors (Verbal Irony)
One crucial part of Milton’s argument is that no licensor would be knowledgeable enough to accurately judge which books should be published. He also argues that only unscrupulous men motivated by power or greed would agree to do the grueling job. However, he still has to address the current licensors without alienating them. These two contradictory motives force Milton to be less than entirely genuine. In the quote, “In this one thing I crave leave of the present licensers…but that this short trial hath wearied them out already, their own expressions and excuses to them who make so many journeys to solicit their licence are testimony enough,” he implies that his condemnations don’t concern the current licensors, emphasizing that they were motivated by a feeling of duty to their country—but then noting that they are already failing to live up to the office, aligning with his critical assessment of licensors in general.
Licensing as Dangerous Speech (Situational Irony)
In the quote, “For this authentic Spanish policy of licensing books, if I have said aught, will prove the most unlicensed book itself within a short while,” Milton argues that it is ironically the policy of licensing that should be censored: as a dangerous idea imported from a Catholic country, it meets all the standards for suppression.
The Court of the Star Chamber (Verbal and Situational Irony)
Here, Milton plays on Queen Elizabeth I’s famous “court of the star chamber.” He writes that the new censorship laws are “the immediate image of a Star Chamber decree to that purpose made in those very times when that Court did the rest of those her pious works, for which she is now fallen from the stars with Lucifer.” Condemning the monarch, he writes that her place in the stars ironically left her in the pit of hell with Lucifer.
The Heretical Catholic Church (Situational Irony)
In “Of True Religion,” Milton calls Catholics the one true heretics. This is ironic, because for centuries Catholicism had cast itself as the only legitimate faith in Europe. When Protestants left the Church, they were labeled heretics by Catholicism. Milton turns the tables on Catholicism by classifying it as illegitimate based on his own religious code, marking it as a sect that departed from the true religion outlined in the scriptures and followed by Protestants.
Presbyterian Opposition to the King’s Execution (Situational Irony)
Central to “The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates” is Milton’s assertion that the Presbyterians, who now oppose the execution of the king, have effectively already killed him. Milton argues that the king is an idea, defined by the right to rule and the people’s willingness to be ruled. When the Presbyterians denied the king’s right to absolute rule, and refused to follow his orders, they stripped the king of his identity, effectively killing him.
Divorce of Henry VIII (Situational Irony)
In order to divorce Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII was forced to follow the laws of the Catholic Church, and engage in a humiliating process to prove she had been married before, and hence that the marriage was unlawful. Yet in doing so, Henry VIII facilitated England’s freedom from the Church, and brought about the possibility of one day escaping harsh Catholic standards for obtaining a divorce.
