John Milton

The outlines of contemporary critical theory are now often taught as a standard feature of a degree in literary studies. This text aims to explore the theoretical issues and conflicts embodied in selected essays of John Milton and locate areas of disagreement between positions.

This collection of selected writings represents the best of recent critical work on Milton. The essays cover all stages of his career, from the early poems through to the later poems of the Restoration period, especially Paradise Lost. Professor Patterson includes British and American critics such as Michael Wilding, Victoria Kahn, James Grantham Turner and Mary Ann Radzinowicz and guides the reader through the varied ways Milton's achievement has been explored and debated by modern criticism.