Heroic Deeds of Conscience: Milton's Stand against Religious Conformity in Paradise Regained

Scholars have long debated how to interpret the closing temptation in Milton's Paradise Regained. In this essay, David R. Schmitt argues that Milton uses the idiom of conscience in Paradise Regained to make an assault upon the political and persecutory imagination of the Restoration and, in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Huntington Library quarterly 2013-03, Vol.76 (1), p.105-135
Main Author: Schmitt, David R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
British & Irish literature
English literature
Heroism & heroes
Literary criticism
Milton, John (1608-1674)
Poetry
Politics
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Scholars have long debated how to interpret the closing temptation in Milton's Paradise Regained. In this essay, David R. Schmitt argues that Milton uses the idiom of conscience in Paradise Regained to make an assault upon the political and persecutory imagination of the Restoration and, in the closing temptation, to transform Nonconformity into a heroic stance of faith. Situating the poem within Milton's writings on toleration and the historical circumstances of Nonconformity, Schmitt argues that Milton not only defends conscientious liberty in his polemical engagement but also poetically embodies it in the Son of God's final stand in Paradise Regained. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0018-7895
1544-399X
DOI:10.1525/hlq.2013.76.1.105