Milton's Imperial Epic Paradise Lost and the Discourse of Colonialism / J. Martin Evans.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Evans, John Martín., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Milton, John, 1608-1674. Paradise lost.

Milton, John.

Colonies in literature.

Epic poetry, English--History and criticism.

Epic poetry, English.

Fall of man in literature.

Imperialism in literature.

Political poetry, English--History and criticism.

Political poetry, English.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

London : Cornell University Press, 1996.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Written during the crucial first phase of English empire-building in the New World, Paradise Lost registers the radically divided attitudes toward the settlement of America that existed in seventeenth-century Protestant England. Evans looks at the relationship between Milton's epic and the pervasive colonial discourse of Milton's time. Evans bases his analysis on the literature of exploration and colonialism. The primary sources on which he draws range from sermons about the New World justifying colonization and exhorting virtue among colonists to promotional pamphlets designed to lure people and investment into the colonies. Evans's research allows him to create a richly textured picture of anxiety and optimism, guilt and moral certitude.The central question is whether Milton supported England's colonization or covertly attempted to subvert it. In contrast to those who attribute to Paradise Lost a specific political agenda for the American colonies, Evans maintains that Milton reflects the complexity and ambivalence of attitudes held by English society.Analyzing Paradise Lost against this background, Evans offers a new perspective on such fundamental issues as the narrator's shifting stance in the poem, the unique character of Milton's prelapsarian paradise, and the moral and intellectual status of Adam and Eve before and after the fall. From Satan's arrival in Hell to the expulsion from the garden of Eden, Milton's version of the Genesis myth resonates with the complex thematics of Renaissance colonialism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. The Colonial Idea

2. The Colony

This nether Empire (2.296)

A Wilderness of sweets (5.294)

Brutal kind (g.s6s)

3. The Colonists

Great adventurer (10.440)

Heav'nly stranger (5.316)

Fellow servant (8.225)

That fixt mind ( 1.97)

4. The Colonized

This new happie Race of Men (3.679)

Alienate from God (5.877)

5. The Narrator

Hesperian Fables true (4.250)

Adventrous song (1.13)

Eternal Providence ( 1.25)

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781501724015

1501724010

OCLC:

1083626103