“American Heritage” of the English Literature: Novel by Peter Ackroyd Milton in America and its Pretexts

The clashes between the Plymouth Plantation Puritans and the settlers of the Merrymount colony were recorded in the XVII century in 2 documents: William Bradford, the Governor of the colony related the story in his History of Plymouth Plantation, while Thomas Morton, the leader of the Merrymount Community gave his explication in his three-volume The New English Canaan. Bradford rejected the views of the Merrymount inhabitants, condemned their “depravity” as well as their profitable trade with the Indians. In his turn, Morton in the third part of his book presented a vivid satiric sketch of the Puritans life. N. Hawthorne with his tale “The May-Pole of Merry Mount” made the case widely known in our days. The essay investigates not only the documents of the early history but pays primary attention to the version of P. Akroyd, contemporary English writer, presented in his novel of 1996 Milton in America — one of his famous “alternative biographies”. The analysis reveals that the author not only widely leans on the material of the two pretexts, but also bases the narration upon the effect of point of view. The innovative handling of the old texts leads to emergence of postmodern uncertainty. Nevertheless, the postmodernist game cannot eliminate the ethic meaning of the novel.