Re Membering Milton

First published in 1987. Passionately praised and equally passionately criticised by contemporary and later writers, the figure of Milton inherited by the twentieth century is by no means unified, despite the appearance of monumental unity his work sometimes acquires in the classroom and in academic criticism. This collection of essays gathers together disparate and often conflicting representations of Milton as author and cultural figure. Critics familiar with the traditions of Milton scholarship and with debates in literary theory reconstruct Milton from evidence provided by his own prose and poetry, by his contemporaries (including some little-known women writers), by Romantics such as Blake and Wordsworth, and, finally, by a tradition of Afro-American writing that reflects Milton's influence in ways previously unexamined by critics. The process of reconstruction can also be seen as a process of "re-membering." The volume draws inspiration from, but also interrogates, the figure used in Areopagita to describe the quest for truth. Likening Truth to the dismembered body of Osiris, Milton urges Truth's friends to seek up and down, gathering "limb by limb" the body scattered through time and space. Re-membering Milton includes work by established critics from both sides of the Atlantic. Together these contributors place Milton and different Milton traditions firmly within the arenas of modem critical debate. As a result, the collection will be of interest to a wide range of readers: scholars concerned with Milton and Renaissance literature and history; advanced undergraduates and graduate students; researchers in women’s studies; and all readers generally concerned with trends in literary and cultural theory.

Presents a collection of critical essays on the works of John Milton.

In this graceful and compelling book, Regina Schwartz presents a powerful reading of Paradise Lost by tracing the structure of the poem to the pattern of "repeated beginnings" found in the Bible. In both works, the world order is constantly threatened by chaos. By drawing on both the Bible and the more contemporary works of, among others, Freud, Lacan, Ricoeur, Said, and Derrida, Schwartz argues that chaos does not simply threaten order, but rather, chaos inheres in order. "A brilliant study that quietly but powerfully recharacterizes many of the contexts of discussion in Milton criticism. Particularly noteworthy is Schwartz's ability to introduce advanced theoretical perspectives without ever taking the focus of attention away from the dynamics and problematics of Milton's poem."—Stanley Fish

Rebels, soldiers and watermen have all toiled and roamed among the fields, bays and beaches of Sussex County. With grit and ingenuity they built strong communities that could face the onslaught of storms and sun seekers. From tales of the Black Camp Rebellion and the infamous Patty Cannon to stories of practical jokesters who brought a swamp monster to life, local author James Diehl brings together a fascinating and whimsical collection of vignettes that paints a portrait of Delaware's largest county. Between its sunny coast and green fields lie the small towns that the hardworking and hospitable people of Sussex County call home.

By bringing together Milton specialists with other innovative early modern scholars, the collection aims to embrace and encourage a methodologically adventurous study of Milton's works, analyzing them both in relation to their own moment and their many ensuing contexts.

The question of selfhood in Renaissance texts constitutes a scholarly and critical debate of almost unmanageable proportions. The author of this work begins by questioning the strategies with which male writers depict powerful women. Although Spenser's Britomart, Shakespeare's Cleopatra, and Milton's Eve figure selfhood very differently and to very different ends, they do have two significant elements in common: mirrors and transformations that diminish the power of the female self.

This book brings together letters from 89 of Northrop Frye's students, friends, and acquaintances in which they record their recollections of him as a teacher and a person during the 1940s and 1950s. A number of the correspondents also provide their impressions of Victoria College at the time, where Frye taught for more than 50 years. The letters provide insights into Frye as a teacher that are not elsewhere available, and reveal a consistent portrait of an intellectually superlative, generous, and thoughtful man.