Despite Milton's preoccupation with origins, these elude him: his creation stories are always mediated. Even the creation of the universe is not depicted as a single event that occurred once and for all time in a distant past; instead, world-order must be perpetually reasserted, before the ever present threat of chaos. That description of Milton's universe also applies to his other creation, the poem, where the chaos that forever threatens is the abyss of interpretation. Milton's creations are not asserted despite this threat, but because of it; that is, chaos does not simply threaten to undo order, for chaos inheres in it. While Milton's inability to discover a privileged origin allies him with postmodernism - and so this study, originally published in 1988, engages thinkers like Freud, Nietzsche, Derrida, and Lacan - that insight is far more ancient. According to Regina Schwartz, the Bible offers Milton his pattern of repeated beginnings.

A 1988 study of Milton's preoccupation with origins and how these elude him.
Reviews
Review of the hardback: 'An original study of a neglected aspect of the poem.' Louis Martz
Review of the hardback: 'This is a brilliant study that quietly but powerfully recharacterizes many of the contexts of discussion in Milton criticism. Particularly noteworthy is Schwartz'a 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



Book Information
ISBN 9780521177290
Author Regina M. Schwartz
Format Paperback
Page Count 156
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 210g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 9mm