The Critical Response to John Milton's Paradise LostTimothy Miller Bloomsbury Academic, 1997 M04 22 - 337 pages Paradise Lost was recognized as a major epic poem soon after its publication in 1667. For more than three centuries, critics have been describing, interpreting, and evaluating it. Regardless of their approaches to changing literary values, they have generally accepted it as the prime example of the epic in English. As many critics have observed, the poem brought biblical, literary, cultural, social, scientific, and political elements into such aesthetic harmony that even its detractors have been forced to recognize its greatness. And because of its complexity, it has become a test case in literary studies as a focal point for changing critical assumptions and literary values. This reference book traces the critical reception of Paradise Lost from the 17th century to the present. The volume is organized in chapters devoted to particular centuries, with each chapter presenting a selection of reviews and critical essays from that period. Thus the reader is able to chart the changing response to ^IParadise Lost^R over time. An introductory essay summarizes the reception of Milton's work, and a bibliography lists important sources of additional information. |
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... looks like a contempt of Rime , and a generous disdain of a barbarous Custom ; but Writing in such Rimes as a Boy may laugh at ... looks at the best like a fruitless attempt , and an impotent Affectation . John Dryden , " Dedication ...
... look " down with wonder at the sudden view Of all this World at once " [ 3.542- 543 ] . Uriel , explaining the scene ... looks sadly from the earth : [ 4.27-30 ] . It is through Satan's eyes that we view the most telescopic of all scenes ...
... look up these places in the notes , nor has pedantry any share in the poet's motives for selecting them . All that we need to know the poet tells us . The one was a river island and the other a high mountain , and both were hiding ...
Contents
Milton and the Telescope | 14 |
Dominant Residual | 18 |
An Essay Upon the Civil Wars of France And also Upon | 23 |
Copyright | |
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