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Milton's Eve : A Comparison With Eve In The Major Analogues Preceding Paradise Lost, Charlene Dellinger Wheeler

Master's Theses

Milton's character of Eve in Paradise Lost has been interpreted by critics as both the vehicle for Milton's abuse of women, and the example of Milton's favoritism towards them. The great variety of interpretations of the same character seems to be the result of not considering Milton's Eve as a combination of qualities gathered from both the Biblical and literary traditions and influenced by Milton's theological beliefs and his intentions for Paradise Lost. By comparing Milton's Eve with her major predecessors, this thesis will interpret Milton's characterization according to the literary history of the character, and show how Milton's particular …

To Revitalize The Flaccid Garden : A Study Of Milton's Paradise Regained, Daniel Clyde Bartges

Master's Theses

By 1654, Milton had partaken of misery, neglect, frustration, poverty; temptation, and disillusionment, as do all men; and it was his hope to "justify" (actually to "explain" since, to Milton, God's "ways" do not lend themselves to mortal justification) these plights to his fellow man. He shared the troublesome question of the Puritans: why is there evil in a world created by a beneficent God? A sincere Christian, he hoped to find a solution to this religious embarrassment through Biblical interpretation and subsequent enlightenment.

It is my belief that Paradise Regained constitutes Milton's most concentrated effort toward solving this baffling …

The Contributions And Effects Of The Drama On Paradise Lost, Robert Elliott Bayliss

Master's Theses

Upon reading John Milton's Paradise Lost, one cannot help but notice that its tone, its moving scenes and confrontations, and its moments of psychological and cathartic impact all help to shape what one might call the poem's total effect -- the impressions it leaves with the reader. Upon close examination it becomes obvious that Milton was consummately adept in his adaptation of the dramatic element in his great epic. What is generally unrecognized, yet surprisingly evident, is that the dramatic element plays a unique and singularly important role in building the poem's grandeur. This dramatic element, more than any of …

Milton And Cambridge : A New Look At An Old Attitude, Roy S. Riner

Master's Theses

From the insights cleaned from current research into John Milton's years as an undergraduate and a graduate student at Cambridge University, this writer has found an overwhelming amount of material dedicated to pointing out Milton's total lack of affection for that university. For the most part, those statements bearing on Milton's dislike for Cambridge are unequivocal. For example, one scholar has remarked that John Milton departed from the University in 1632 "weary and disguised" with the medieval, unbearable antiquated methods of the place. That same scholar continues with the statement that Milton's attitude toward Cambridge was "uniformly unfriendly" and that …

An Evaluation Of The Autobiographical Interpretation Of Samson Agonistes, Edward P. Crockett

Master's Theses

Certainly, every reader of Samson Agonistes who is at all familiar with the circumstances of Milton's life, his thought, and the history of his times has been attracted by obvious parallels between 'the poet and certain aspects or his dramatic creation, and he may understandably assume that the presentation or the sufferings of Samson constitute intentional, hidden autobiography. To assume even the obvious, however, is something too blithely done. A little research into this area of Miltoniana will reveal to him that scholarly opinion concerning Samson Agonistes and autobiography is greatly varied and that some scholars are inclined not only …

A Comparative Study Of The State Of Innocence And Paradise Lost, David Everette Blythe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the extent to which John Dryden actually copied Paradise Lost in writing his "opera," The State of Innocence and Fall of Man.

The Problem Of Satan In Milton's Paradise Lost, Jeanne Saunders

Master's Theses

By 1641 John Milton had prepared a rather detailed outline for a tragic drama, Adam Unparadised. The design was to take form and grow, not as a religious drama, but as a magnificent epic poem which would "assert Eternal Providence,/And justify the ways of God to men" (I.25-26). In the original design for the drama the character and person of Satan did not constitute a basis for sustained interest. However, when Paradise Lost was finished in 1665, this was no longer the case; Satan, as an historical figure treated by the poetic and religious imagination of Milton, emerged as one …

Milton And The Doctrine Of The Synod Of Dort Arminianism In Christian Doctrine And Paradise Lost, Robert James Fagg

Master's Theses

In order to understand the similarities or areas of agreement between Milton's theology and that of the Arminians one not only has to understand thoroughly the five Arminian articles but also must be familiar with the theologies which produced them. [I] will attempt to show why a few scholars and theologians refer to Milton's Christine Doctrine and Paradise Lost as being Arminian by simply comparing the two theologies and pointing out the areas of definite agreement between them.

John Milton : Religious Independent, Allen Herbert Scott

Master's Theses

In the preface to -De Doctrina Christiana John Milton makes it clear that his religious views underwent a continual process of revision throughout his lite, and he assures us that at no time during his life did he follow any heresy or sect. During the century and a half prior to the discovery of !!! DOctrina Christiana in 1823, however, Milton was regarded as one of the highest figures in English literature, passing as an orthodox Protestant of the Calvinistic faith.