Authors to Themselves: Milton and the Revelation of History Contributor(s): Grossman, Marshall (Author) |
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ISBN: 0521340373 ISBN-13: 9780521340373 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $114.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: January 1988 Annotation: Grossman examines the narrative form of Paradise Lost to discover Milton's thoroughly modern concept of self. Banished from paradise, the epic poem's protagonists become "authors to themselves in all/Both what they judge and what they choose," left to create their own story in relation to the story already written by God. Grossman believes the resulting structure of the poem must be understood in the context of seventeenth-century historical and theological developments, specifically Bacon's notion of history as progress and Protestant theology's notion of the inner voice. The book draws upon recent works in hermeneutics and analytic history to develop the argument that there is a common structure to the experience of time in action and in narrative. In developing this thesis, Grossman draws on the work Stephen Greenblatt, Ricoeur, Todorov, Genette, Derrida, and Lacan to construct an original reading of Paradise Lost that will fascinate Miltonists, specialists in seventeenth-century literature, and readers concerned with narrative theory. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Poetry | European - English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
Dewey: 821.4 |
LCCN: 87009357 |
Series: Studies in Interdisciplinary History |
Physical Information: 1.11" H x 5.48" W x 8.32" (1.08 lbs) 256 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Grossman examines the narrative form of Paradise Lost to discover Milton's thoroughly modern concept of self. Banished from paradise, the epic poem's protagonists become authors to themselves in all/Both what they judge and what they choose, left to create their own story in relation to the story already written by God. Grossman believes the resulting structure of the poem must be understood in the context of seventeenth-century historical and theological developments, specifically Bacon's notion of history as progress and Protestant theology's notion of the inner voice. The book draws upon recent works in hermeneutics and analytic history to develop the argument that there is a common structure to the experience of time in action and in narrative. In developing this thesis, Grossman draws on the work Stephen Greenblatt, Ricoeur, Todorov, Genette, Derrida, and Lacan to construct an original reading of Paradise Lost that will fascinate Miltonists, specialists in seventeenth-century literature, and readers concerned with narrative theory. |