Remembering and Repeating: On Milton's Theology and Poetics / Edition 1

by Regina M. Schwartz

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226742014
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	03/01/1993
Edition description:	1
Pages:	158
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Regina M. Schwartz is professor of English and religion at Northwestern University and director of the Chicago Institute of Religion, Ethics, and Violence. She is the author of Remembering and Repeating: On Milton’s Theology and Poetics; editor of The Book and the Text: The Bible and Literary Theory; and co-author of The Postmodern Bible.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Repeating
Remembering
1. "And the sea was no more":
Chaos vs. creation
The unclean realm
Cosmogonic conflict
Chaos and the fall
2. "Secret gaze or open admiration":
The invitation to origins
Curiosity and knowledge
Things visible to mortal sight
3. "Remember and tell over":
Creation in sacred song
Ritual recompense
Cosmic liturgy
Paradise Lost as hymn
4. "Yet once more":
Re-creation, repetition, and return
The two falls
The Satanic will
Adamic return
Notes
Works cited
Index