Remembering and Repeating: Biblical Creation in Paradise Lost

by Regina M. Schwartz

As a reinterpretation of Milton, this study engages the ideas of Freud, Nietzsche, and Derrida. However, the author derives her thesis from Milton's own debt to ancient Biblical sources. The Bible, says Schwartz, offers Milton a pattern of repeated beginnings that informs his depiction of the universe and characterizes his poetic and interpretative processes. This original reading of the Bible enables a powerful rereading of Paradise Lost.

Genres: Nonfiction

156 pages, Hardcover

First published February 9, 1989

About the author

Regina M. Schwartz, Duke University

Reviews

[Addie]

Excellent and thought-provoking thesis from Schwartz; her depth of knowledge, incisive scholarly mind, and ability to draw connections between a diverse range of thinkers and philosophies are all very impressive. Also, just gorgeous work on Paradise Lost that has only further excited my love for the text :)

[Lanier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaos is EVIL. It's Hell, Night, Lucifer's negative free will and within everything, so deal with it and let's move on, already! This study is well done, not too heavy like some source materials I've had to sleep through. I love chaos, as presented within Milton's PL, and this helps put some extra little twists on my three levels of Chaos—the character, the place and the abstract.