Persona and Decorum in Milton's ProseAlthough recent schools of literary criticism have tended to remove the author from the text, thereby calling into question the value of persona criticism, Sanchez points out that Milton himself argues against the separation of author from persona and against the subordination of author to persona. As literary critic and dramatist in the preface to Samson Agonistes, as bard in Paradise Lost, as orator in Areopagitica, as autobiographer in the prologue to Book II of The Reason of Church Government, as "Author" of Lycidas distinguishing himself in the coda from "th' uncouth swain" - the author inside each of these and other works is clearly observed by the author who stands for a time outside the work. |
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