Typology, Politics, and Theology in Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes

This article contends that John Milton's use of reverse typology to connect Samson Agonistes and Paradise Regained has both theological precedent and historical implications. Reformed exegesis and Arianism provide theological contexts through which to understand Milton's placement of the New Testament Son before the Old Testament Samson. The complexity of Miltonic typology offers an implicit commentary on vapid Restoration typologies that mindlessly identify Stuart monarchs with Old Testament kings. Finally, the article shows that typology supplies a means by which Milton legitimates Samson's act of religious violence.