Milton's Late Poems: Forms of Modernity

Lee Morrissey's book reinterprets Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes as responses to a world in upheaval, offering new definitions and stimulating avenues of research for Milton students and specialists.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 25 August 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Lee Morrissey's groundbreaking work challenges traditional interpretations of Milton and modernity by reimagining Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes as narratives that offer three distinct responses to a world in turmoil. Through a meticulous exploration of narrative, form, and genre, Morrissey demonstrates how these works, when viewed as fiction, grapple with the complexities of a modern world characterized by paradoxes, ambiguities, subversions, and shifting temporalities rather than being confined to rigid historical periodizations. The insights offered by this book are both valuable and unexpected, offering new definitions and stimulating avenues of research for scholars of Milton and early modern studies alike. Morrissey also invites us to reevaluate Milton's position in relation to the greatest achievements of modernity, particularly in the realm of the novel, challenging us to reconsider his significance in the broader context of the early modern era.

Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes are reinterpreted by Lee Morrissey as three alternative responses to a world in upheaval: adjustment, avoidance, and antagonism. By engaging with narrative, form, and genre, Morrissey demonstrates how each work, considered specifically as fiction, grapples with the complexities of a modern world characterized by paradoxes, ambiguities, subversions, and shifting temporalities. This book offers invaluable insights and counterintuitive interpretations, opening new avenues of research for Milton scholars and specialists, as well as those working in the broader field of early modern studies. Morrissey also invites us to rethink Milton's position in relation to the greatest products of modernity, particularly in the realm of the novel, challenging us to reevaluate his significance in the broader context of the early modern era.

Weight: 435g
ISBN-13: 9781009197083