Publisher's Synopsis
This study examines Milton's literary culture and its relation to his Protestant beliefs. It brings together analyses of "Paradise Lost" and its intellectual context in an attempt to provide a fresh picture of its historical place and a new critical approach.;Arguing that "Paradise Lost" shows a conflict of concern between Milton's humanism and his Protestant Christianity, it looks in detail at the processes of volition within the poem, and maintains that Milton's insights into error, guilt, and repentance owe more to his religion than to his literary culture, Other theorists on Milton's humanism are outlined and there is a comparative discussion of Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered" and "Absalam and Achitophel".
