Discontinuity in autonomy and when I consider how my light is spentRalph Waldo Emerson emphatically proclaims in "Self-Reliance" that "the greatest merit to which we attribute to Moses, Plato and Milton, is that they did nothing of the traditions but said… what they thought” (515). rather to originality Milton's break with consistent expectations is embodied in his use of a Petrarchan sonnet in the poem "When I consider how my light is spent Nonconformity and discontinuity in approach." of a man to life are the doctrines espoused by Emerson in his work “Self-Reliance,” and Milton embodies an Emersonian vision while searching inwardly for personal truth in his sonnet The lack of formal structure in the works of both authors. enhances rather than inhibits the reader's understanding of the literature. Although Emerson and Milton both employ a discontinuous literary style in their respective works, Emerson revels in its lack of continuity to further promulgate his ideology of nonconformity and inconsistency while Milton uses discontinuity to attempt to understand his place before God. The comparison of the two works will be based on the following definition of discontinuity: any literary approach that deviates from the standard structural form. The lack of formal structure in Emerson's "Self-Reliance" has been ridiculed by some critics as an "insurmountable handicap". " to a proper understanding of the work (Warren 200). A close examination of the work, however, evokes two fundamental assertions: Emerson provides a basis for a semblance of structure, and complete continuity is antithetical to the fundamental principles of "Se... ... middle of paper….. “The American literary tradition. Eighth edition. Ed. George Perkins. New York. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994. Milton, John. “When I consider how my light is spent.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Sixth edition. MHAbrams et al. New York: WW Norton and Company, 1996.Nicolson, Marjorie Hope. John Milton: A Reader's Guide to His Poetry. New York: Octagon Books, 1983.Packer, BL "The Fall of Emerson: A New Interpretation of the Major Essays." 19th Century Literary Criticism 38 (1993): 200-208. Robinson, David M. “Grace and Work: Emerson's Essays in Theological Perspective.” 19th Century Literary Criticism 38 (1993): 223-230. Warren, Joyce W. “Transcendentalism and the Self: Ralph Waldo Emerson.” Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism 38 (1993): 208-213.Wilson, AN The Life of John Milton. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.