Milton and Religious Controversy Satire and Polemic in Paradise Lost [Hardcover]

A study of Milton's epic in the context of religious debate and visual satire, first published in 2000.Religious satire and polemic constitute an elusive presence in Paradise Lost. John N. King demonstrates how we must read the text in a way that is true to its contemporary commitments and cultural dialogues. Vituperative sermons, broadsides and pamphlets, notably Milton's own tracts, uncover the poem's engagement with the violent history of the Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Restoration, while contemporary visual satires help us to understand Miltonic practice. This important study sheds new light on Milton's epic and its literary and religious contexts.Religious satire and polemic constitute an elusive presence in Paradise Lost. John N. King demonstrates how we must read the text in a way that is true to its contemporary commitments and cultural dialogues. Vituperative sermons, broadsides and pamphlets, notably Milton's own tracts, uncover the poem's engagement with the violent history of the Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Restoration, while contemporary visual satires help us to understand Miltonic practice. This important study sheds new light on Milton's epic and its literary and religious contexts.Religious satire and polemic constitute an elusive presence in Paradise Lost. John N. King demonstrates how we must read the text in a way that is true to its contemporary commitments and cultural dialogues. This important study sheds new light on Milton's epic and its literary and religious contexts.1. Controversial merriment; 2. Milton reads Spenser's May Eclogue; 3. Satan and the demonic conclave; 4. Milton's den of error; 5. The paradise of fools; 6. Laughter in heaven; 7. Miltonic transubstantiation; 8. Idolatry in Eden; 9. Images of both churches; Conclusion; Appendix: Transcriptions from satirical broadsheets. ...this book constitutes a necessary correction to the general undrestanding of the place of satire in Paradise Lost, and it succeeds in 'complicating and elC”