Milton and the Grounds of Contention

Both in his life and in his writings, Milton became the very embodiment of contention. He was an embattled figure whose ideas provoked endless controversy from his own time to the present. The ten new essays in this volume examine major issues that have become the grounds of contention in the study and interpretation of Milton and his works. These issues include the significance of women writers and readers, the nature of Milton's influence and the reception of his works, the gendered bias that informs the portrayal of Eve, the vexed subject of choice and election that underlies the character of Samson, and the taint of heresy that Milton's theological beliefs are said to betray. In their engagement with these issues, the scholars represented here concern themselves with such figures as Edmund Burke, Lucy Huitchinson and Elizabeth Singer Rowe. Their essays explre the concept of 'femme covert', the authorship of 'De Doctrina Christiana', the significance of Milton's failure to pursue the Passion and Crucifiction of Jesus, and the place of the Socinian controversy in Milton and his heirs.