Milton Studies: v. 39

The eight essays in this volume are comprehensive in their comparative interpretation and analysis of many works by Milton, both poetry and prose. The essays analyze such poems as the early Prolusions, selected sonnets, the epitaph for Lady Jane Paulet, "Comus", "Paradise Lost", "Paradise Regained" and "Samson Agonistes". They focus on prose works as diverse as "A Second Defence of the English People" and "De Doctrina Christiana". Among the essays are several that will have seminal influence on future interpretations of Milton. One essay studies Milton's outlook on the reasoning of animals and its implications for our understanding of ways of knowing and of differences between men and women. Another clarifies Milton's attitude toward a controversial political figure, Oliver Cromwell. Two other essays pursue revisionist interpretations of Milton's concept of the deity, with emphasis on the Son and his incarnate role as Jesus. Others focus on the moral pragmatism at the heart of Milton's theology and on post-Nietzschean contexts informing "Samson Agonistes".