Synopsis
John Milton - heretic, defender of the Cromwellian regicides, epic poet - holds a crucial strategic position on the intellectual and ideological map of literary studies. In this provocative and liberating study, John P. Rumrich contends that contemporary critics, despite differences in methodology, have contributed to the invention of a monolithic or institutional Milton, as censorious preacher, aggressive misogynist, and champion of the emerging bourgeoisie. Rumrich reveals the pressures that have shaped this current critical orthodoxy, and exposes the historical inaccuracies and logical inconsistencies that sustain it. Through analysis of Milton's poetry and prose, and consideration of the historical forces that informed Milton's writing, Rumrich argues instead for a more complex Milton who was able to accommodate uncertainty and doubt.

First Sentence
In 1961, William Empson in the controversial Milton's God challenged what he called the growing "neo-Christian" bias of scholars, blaming it for overstatement of Milton's orthodoxy and understatement of the sincerity of his epic theodicy. 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
• Study Books > Undergraduate & Postgraduate > Arts & Humanities > Literature & Drama > Drama > Criticism

Literary studies: general
Poetry & poets: 16th to 18th centuries
English
British Isles
1608-1674
17th century
Criticism and interpretation
English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
Great Britain
Historicism
History
Literary Criticism
Literature
Literature - Classics / Criticism
Literature and history
Milton, John
Milton, John,
Milton, John, 1608-1674
Poetry
Political and social views


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