Milton Studies: v. 50

The eight essays in "Milton Studies 50" offer profound insights into Milton's poems, ranging from "Comus" and "Lycidas", to "Paradise Lost" and "Samson Agonistes". One essay offers an entirely new direction for Milton scholarship, examining how he may have influenced Seventh-day Adventism. The initial essay tracks the many cultural voices that constitute a network in which the Lady of Comus is situated, and her character is astutely analyzed. The second entry traces the gradual emergence of a voice in Lycidas, which becomes that of a so-called reader-speaker, who develops a unique perspective on the many debating and competing voices in this elegy. The third essay breaks new ground on the topic of chaos in Milton's "Paradise Lost", offering a bold and innovative reading of this often-interpreted phenomenon. The fourth essay is a revolutionary study of alternative masculinities in "Paradise Lost", with an emphasis on systems of sex and gender embedded in the epic. The fifth essay focuses on Milton's adaptation of the beatitudes from Matthew's "Gospel", notably in Eve's lyric to Adam in Book IV of "Paradise Lost". The sixth essay examines the myth of Persephone and its association with flowers in the classical tradition, shedding new light on the multifarious implications of Milton's similes. The seventh essay studies the phenomenon of oaths and vows - making and breaking them - in "Samson Agonistes". The final entry dwells on evidence that Milton may have affected Ellen Gould White, prophetess of Seventh-day Adventism, and American theologians in general.