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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... Reason why Spencer miscarry'd , as shall be shew anon . 2. The second Rule , That the Religion which the Poet employs , ought to be the reigning one , that both the Poet and the Readers may be mov'd the more by Religion in which they ...
... reason usurps its place and governs the unwilling . And being restrained it by degrees becomes passive till it is only the shadow of desire . The history of this is written in Paradise Lost , and the Governor or Reason is called Messiah ...
... reason perceives their truth axiomatically . The very slow or impaired reason , which cannot figure them out at all , must be convinced by the testimony of a witness previously found to be a reliable reasoner . Reliance on testimony ...
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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