Destabilizing Milton "Paradise Lost" and the Poetics of Incertitude

Destabilizing Milton challenges the widely accepted view of Milton as a poet of absolute, unquestioning certainty. In "Paradise Lost," Milton confronts the failure of the Revolution by creating a poem that refuses to grant the reader any interpretive stability or certainty. While "Paradise Regained" and "Samson Agonistes" reflect Milton's deep ambivalences after the collapse of the Republic. Far from confirming his earlier ideals, in his later poetry, Milton subjects his culture's most cherished beliefs, such as the goodness of God, to withering scrutiny, while refusing the comfort of orthodox answers.

Peter C. Herman is Professor of English and Comparative Literature, San Diego State University.