Milton and the Burden of Freedom
Cambridge University Press, 1/20/2017
EAN 9781107153189, ISBN10: 1107153182
Hardcover, 282 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 2 cm
Language: English
Throughout his writings, Milton, deeply engaged in political and theological controversy, sought to clear a space for human freedom in a world ruled by an omniscient and omnipotent deity. Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes, as well as other works by Milton in verse and prose, explore the problematical aspects of a universe ruled by an Old Testament God of wrath, demanding obedience, who allows his creatures the freedom to be 'authors' of their own fate. Milton and the Burden of Freedom examines the contradictions inherent in Milton's religious, political, and ethical beliefs as expressed in his poems, prose writings, and the treatise De Doctrina Christiana. Milton, whose writings are rooted in the Reformed tradition while challenging Calvinist orthodoxy, is both radical and conservative. In this book, Warren Chernaik traces the evolution of Milton's attitude towards freedom, servitude and virtue during a century of political upheaval and disappointed hopes.
Introduction. Free to fall
Milton and the Old Testament God
1. Milton's post-Calvinist theology
2. 'Providence their guide'
providence in Milton
3. The unpolluted temple of the mind
virtue on trial
4. Classical and Biblical Republicanism
Milton and some contemporaries
5. Victory's crest
Milton, the English nation, and Cromwell
6. Monarchy and servitude
the politics of Paradise Lost
7. God's just yoke
power and justice in Paradise Lost
8. 'Tyrannie must be'
Milton and the Restoration
Postscript.