Synopses & Reviews
'This first book-length study explores the relationship between Milton\'s vision of history and his literary imagination in the revolutionary prose and great poems. It focuses on Milton as a controversial writer actively engaged in shaping, representing, and participating in the drama of history of his age. Highlighting the apocalyptic and iconoclastic components of Milton\'s historical vision, the book examines the more turbulent dimensions of his polemic and poetic works. Loewenstein stresses the importance of Milton\'s less canonical texts (such as Eikonoklastes and the History of Britain) and shows how they illuminate the sense of history dramatized in Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes. Analyzing the literary expressions of Milton\'s radicalism, this study reveals a complex interaction among historical consciousness and figurative expression, political vision and textual effects.'
Review
"...a provocative vision of how Milton's conception of history and sense of the literary text interrelate and correlate." Eglish Language Notes"...a refreshing book." Albion
Synopsis
This book explores the role of history in Miltonâs literary works. It focuses on the writerâs imaginative responses to the historical process - his interpretations of the past, visions of the future, and sense of the contemporary historical moment. David Loewenstein presents Milton as a controversial writer actively engaged in shaping, representing and participating in the drama of history of his age. Highlighting the apocalyptic and iconoclastic components of Miltonâs historical vision, the book examines the more turbulent dimensions of his polemic and poetic works.
Synopsis
'This book explores the role of history in Milton\'s literary works.'
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments; A note on texts; Introduction; 1. The drama of history in the early revolutionary prose; 2. âThe wars of truthâ: Areopagitica and the dynamics of history; 3. âCasting down imaginationsâ: iconoclasm as history; 4. âGreat acts and great eloquenceâ: the historical imagination in the later revolutionary prose; 5. Paradise Lost and the configurations of history; 6. Spectacle of power: Samson Agonistes and the drama of history; Notes; Index.