Rosanna Cox explores Milton's 1643 text 'The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce' in an attempt to question Milton's biographical stimulus and his own biographers. Critics have traditionally relegated Mary Powell to the role of 'unfit wife' based on her 'absent presence' around the margins of his famous divorce tracts.

Citations from podcast:

• Anonymous (possibly Cyriack Skinner) The Life of John Milton in Helen Darbishire, ed. The Early Lives of Milton (Constable, 1932), p.23.
• Christopher Hill, Milton and the English Revolution (Faber, 1977), pp.122-123.

'Milton in the 21st Century' is a new CELL podcast series to celebrate 400 years since Milton's birth, and is generously funded by the Queen Mary Small Grants for Development of Learning and Teaching.