Synopsis
Grossman examines the narrative form of Paradise Lost to discover Milton's thoroughly modern concept of self. Banished from paradise, the epic poem's protagonists become 'authors to themselves in all/Both what they judge and what they choose', left to create their own story in relation to the story already written by God. Grossman believes the resulting structure of the poem must be understood in the context of seventeenth-century historical and theological developments, specifically Bacon's notion of history as progress and Protestant theology's notion of the inner voice. The book draws upon recent works in hermeneutics and analytic history to develop the argument that there is a common structure to the experience of time in action and in narrative. In developing this thesis, Grossman draws on the work Stephen Greenblatt, Ricoeur, Todorov, Genette, Derrida and Lacan to construct an original reading of Paradise Lost that will fascinate Miltonists, specialists in seventeenth-century literature, and readers concerned with narrative theory.

First Sentence
The fate of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost is at once divinely foreknown and historically contingent. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
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• Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Literary Studies
• Poetry, Drama & Criticism > History & Criticism > Poetry & Poets > 16th to 18th Centuries
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Poetry & poets: 16th to 18th centuries
Works by individual poets: 16th to 18th centuries
English
British Isles
England
English Poetry
English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
Epic poetry, English
History and criticism
Literary Criticism
Literature
Milton, John
Paradise lost
Poetry
Psychoanalysis and literature
Psychological aspects
Special Subjects In Literature


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