Overview

Full Product Details

9780226435138

Table of Contents

Reviews

Chapman s excellent study of <i>Paradise Lost</i> as a legal epic raises the bar. She defamiliarizes the poem by demonstrating just how much it is interpenetrated by Milton s self-confident and precise understanding of daily legal practice. Urging us to remember that he was the son of a scrivener and the brother of a judge, her book reveals a Milton whose profound sense of contingency and God s grace never obscures his imaginative engagement with the intricacies of the law. --Paul Stevens, University of Toronto

More deeply than any other study, <i>The Legal Epic </i>illuminates the ways Milton creatively employs and transforms the language and principles of early modern law in <i>Paradise Lost</i>. Chapman persuasively shows that understanding Milton s use of legal language and concepts in relation to theology is crucial to understanding his poetic theodicy. This interdisciplinary book is a major contribution to Milton studies and to the study of early modern literature and law. An outstanding achievement. --David Loewenstein, Penn State University Park

This is a terrific piece of scholarship. Chapman makes a very strong case for Milton's intimate familiarity with English and Continental law; his commitment to a natural law position that insisted upon the fundamental connection among human law, right reason, and divine law; and the relevance of legal concepts to <i>Paradise Lost</i>. <i>The Legal Epic</i> will fundamentally change how we read Milton's poem. --Debora K. Shuger, University of California, Los Angeles

Author Information

Alison A. Chapman is professor of English at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the author of Patrons and Patron Saints in Early Modern English Literature.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available