The Humanism of Milton's Paradise Lost"The great divide in commentary on Paradise Lost is between historical and critical analysis. In his discussion of the poem, David Reid combines both approaches, at once placing it historically in terms of neoclassical humanism, and reflecting on it critically as a late twentieth-century humanist." "As a historian, Reid argues that Paradise Lost shares in the cultural effort of neoclassical humanism, and yet, in its picture of volition, the poem stands apart from it - Milton's understanding of freedom, error and guilt owing more to his Protestant than to his humanist concerns. And as a critic, Reid argues that surprisingly Milton's religious understanding speaks more directly to our humanism than his splendid articulation of neoclassical humanist themes."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
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Page 106
... perhaps be improved through the imitation of good models or corrupted through the attraction of bad ; but the moral possibilities in the shaping of a moral temper , the fashioning of a character or inner statue , seem to me less ...
... perhaps be improved through the imitation of good models or corrupted through the attraction of bad ; but the moral possibilities in the shaping of a moral temper , the fashioning of a character or inner statue , seem to me less ...
Page 128
... perhaps because error is a lapse of mind and , like nonsense , cannot be understood . Nevertheless , the lapse of mind hides behind a show of rational deliberation , and the irratio- nality that is let in with it does not implicate the ...
... perhaps because error is a lapse of mind and , like nonsense , cannot be understood . Nevertheless , the lapse of mind hides behind a show of rational deliberation , and the irratio- nality that is let in with it does not implicate the ...
Page 170
... perhaps a monument to dead ideas . Yet Burden's tone endorses what is not so much the system as the systematic mind , the virtues of system , orderliness , lawfulness , obedience . He thinks the fall was a failure in those virtues , and ...
... perhaps a monument to dead ideas . Yet Burden's tone endorses what is not so much the system as the systematic mind , the virtues of system , orderliness , lawfulness , obedience . He thinks the fall was a failure in those virtues , and ...
Common terms and phrases
Absalom and Achitophel Adam and Eve Adam's angels Armida Arminian Augustan Bondage Book choice Christian Doctrine Christian humanism concerns corruption creation creaturely culture death despair divine Dryden earth earthly eloquence Empson Erasmus Erasmus's Essays Eve's evil experience Faerie Queene fall fallen feel forbidden knowledge freedom from constraint fruit God's heaven heavenly hell heroic human action human finitude human nature ideal imitation imagination innocence invocation involved Jerusalem Delivered John Dryden judgement light lines literary literature London looks Luther means Middlemarch Milton Milton's treatment mind moral ideas motions neoclassical epic neoclassical humanism neoclassical humanist Paradise Lost Petrarch philosophy poem poet poetry prohibition Raphael rational reason religious Renaissance Renaissance humanism Renaissance humanists rhetorical Rinaldo Satan scheme scholastic scholasticism schoolmen seems sense serpent shows sort soul speaks spirit suggests talk Tasso temperance theology thought turns understanding unfallen universal Valla virtues and vices volition