John Milton: An Annotated Bibliography, 1989–1999

Criticism: Paradise Regained

305 CRITICISM: PARADISE REGAINED demonstrates “insatiable hunger” in his persistent discontent (41). Baumlin, James S. 1612. “The Aristotelian Ethic of Milton’s Paradise Regained.” Renascence 47 (1994): 41–57. Argues for the influence of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics on Paradise Regained. Notes that the Son is free to fall but insists that Milton portrays him as a pattern of a Christian hero. Believes that in Christian Doctrine, “Milton turns to an Aristotelian ethic in opposition to the Calvinist doctrine of human depravity ” (43) and that the work invokes the “Aristotelian ‘convention of definition by opposites’” (44). The Son holds to Aristotle ’s “mean,” while “Satan evinces either a corresponding excess or defect in his choices and emotional responses” (49). When interpreted as the embodiment of a prudential ethic, the Son “becomes a profoundly compelling cultural ideal for many of Milton’s (if not modern) readers” (54). Bennett, Joan S. 1613. “Asserting Eternal Providence: John Milton through the Window of Liberation Theology.” In Milton and Heresy. Ed. Stephen B. Dobranski and John P. Rumrich. Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998, pp. 219–43. Offers a reading of Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes by linking Milton studies with issues facing Christian activists today, especially as those issues relate to liberation theology. Liberation theology attempts to change the social structures of the world, with violence as a last resort for an unresolved issue. It requires Christians to work actively to achieve justice in the world. Bennett insists that her “journey into liberation Agari, Masahiko. 1610. Formula, Rhetoric , and the Word: Studies in Milton’s Epic Style. Berne: Peter Lang, 1997. 136 pp. Contains nine reprints of essays published between 1971 and 1994 (several of which appear in this bibliography), examining various aspects of Milton’s epic style. Discusses Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained in relation to Renaissance rhetoric. Also includes chapters on the formulaic patterns of language in Paradise Lost, “The Moral Aspect of Milton’s Style” in Paradise Lost, “Adam’s Song of Innocence” in book 8 of Paradise Lost, “Logical Equivocation in Paradise Lost,” “Satan’s Language,” and “The Double Structure of Paradise Regained.” Contends that in Paradise Regained, “Christ’s preparation and the reader’s imitation of Christ as the exemplar” form the epic’s “double structure,” which is “unified in the search on both sides for the true nature of the divine word” (106). Babcox, Emilie. 1611. “Physical and Metaphorical Hunger: The Extra-Biblical Temptations of Paradise Regained.” MiltonQ 26 (1992): 36–42. Explores the imagery of hunger in Paradise Regained, suggesting that “Milton’s two additions to the biblical account, the banquet temptation and the temptation of Athens, are connected in purpose and in their identification of hunger and curiosity, and together illuminate a definition of Jesus as the satisfaction of a hunger that has its source in Adam’s eating of the apple in Eden” (36). Notes “The contrast between a fasting Christ who will offer abundance to the world” and Satan, who offers various forms of vain abundance even as he 306 JOHN MILTON: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1989–1999 theology was prompted by questions of Milton’s reaction to the defeat of the revolutionary cause, questions that make their presence felt especially in readings of Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes ” (219–20). Blondel, Jacques. 1614. “Rhétorique et poésie dans Paradise Regained (1671).” Bible et littérature Anglaise. Montpellier : Université Paul-Valléry, 1990, pp. 111–25. Contrasts the fallacious rhetoric of Satan, which aims to spread disbelief, and the rhetoric of the Son, which reveals the eternal truth. The poem expresses the exploration, journey toward, and discovery of the self, of what a true son of God is. In ordering a natural cataclysm, Satan anticipates his own fall. Borgogni, Daniele. 1615. “Pondering Oft”: Lettura argomentativa del “Paradise Regained” di John Milton. Collana: Pubblicazioni dell’Università degli Studi di Perugia; Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1998. 269 pp. Includes a section on the modern critical reception of Paradise Regained, as well as sections on the poem’s relationship to argument and rhetoric in the seventeenth century, literary complexities, structure, and language. Bredbeck, Gregory W. 1616. “Milton’s Ganymede: Negotiations of Homoerotic Tradition in Paradise Regained.” PMLA 106 (1991): 262–76. Insists that the homoerotic allusions in Milton’s poetry should no longer be ignored and that the banquet scene in book 2 of Paradise Regained is not a temptation of food but of “fleshly and sensual need” (263). In writing of...