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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 44
... Virtue falls into a Misfortune , it raises our Pity , but not our Terror , because we do not fear that it maybe our own Case , who do not resemble the Suffering Person . ' But as that great Philosopher adds , ' If we see a Man of Virtues ...
... virtue therefore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil , ... and rejects it , is but a blank virtue , not a pure ; her whiteness is but an excremental whiteness .... Therefore the knowledge and survey of vice is in this ...
... virtue chastity sure must be , to the defence of which so many worthies , by such a dear adventure of themselves , had sworn . And if I found in the story afterward , any of them , by word or deed , breaking that oath , I judged it the ...
Contents
Milton and the Telescope | 14 |
Dominant Residual | 18 |
An Essay Upon the Civil Wars of France And also Upon | 23 |
Copyright | |
22 other sections not shown