Milton and romance: vernacular romance and chivalric traditions in Paradise Lost

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Date
2013
Authors
Lahive, Colin
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Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
The thesis examines Milton's strategic use of romance in Paradise Lost, arguing that such a handling of romance is a provocative realignment of its values according to the poet’s Christian focus. The thesis argues that Milton's use of romance is not simply the importation of a tradition into the poem; it entails a backward judgement on that tradition, defining its idealising tendencies as fundamentally misplaced. The thesis also examines the Caroline uses of romance and chivalry in the 1630s to provide a vision of British unification, and Milton's reaction to this political agenda.
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Keywords
John Milton , Romance , Paradise Lost , Charles I , Seventeenth-century literature , Caroline court , St George , Satan , Adam and Eve , Chivalry , Renaissance
Citation
Lahive, C. 2013. Milton and romance: vernacular romance and chivalric traditions in Paradise Lost. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.