Title: Samson Agonistes : the political unconscious of God's "nursling"
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2023, vol. 49, iss. 2, pp. 159-175
Extent
159-175
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2023-2-8
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/digilib.79909
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International
Rights access
open access
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This paper draws on Fredric Jameson's triple model of cultural critique in order to unmask the political unconscious underlying John Milton's Samson Agonistes. First, the play is treated as a work of fiction wherein the discrimination and oppression against political dissenters are symbolically resolved. Second, it is argued that the text exemplifies the playwright's ideologeme of double tyranny, which he proposed to account for the predicament of the English people in the English Civil War. Third, the generic hybridity of Samson Agonistes is emblematic of the evolution of several modes of production (each including not just economic but cultural and scientific dimensions) and class struggle in the mid-seventeenth century. The analysis of the textual, social, and historical horizons of interpretation paved the way for decoding the latent repressed desires and sociohistorical conflicts that permeate Milton's play.
References
[1] Ashinstein, Sharon (2003) Samson Agonistes. In: Corns, Thomas N. (ed.) A Companion to Milton. Oxford: Blackwell, 411–428.
[2] Bennett, Joan S. (1998) Asserting eternal providence: John Milton through the window of liberation theology. In: Rumrich, John P. (ed.) Milton and Heresy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 219–243. | DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511549335.012
[3] Bobzien, Susanne (2004) Determinism and Freedom in Stoic Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[4] Campbell, Gordon and Thomas N. Corns (2008) John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[5] Carey, John (2002) A work in praise of terrorism? September 11 and 'Samson Agonistes' (John Milton). Times Literary Supplement 5188, 15–16.
[6] Crawforth, Hannah (2016) The politics of Greek tragedy in Samson Agonistes. The Seventeenth Century 31(2), 239–260, DOI 10.1080/0268117X.2016.1193286. |
[7] Feldhay, Rivka (2006) Religion. In: Park, Katharine and Daston, Lorraine (ed.) The Cambridge History of Science. Volume III. Early Modern Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 727–755.
[8] Fish, Stanley (1969) Question and answer in Samson Agonistes. Critical Quarterly 11(3), 237–265.
[9] Flotats, Rosa (1996) Knowledge and science in 'Paradise Lost.' SEDERI: Yearbook of the Spanish and Portuguese Society for English Renaissance Studies 7, 165–172.
[10] Frye, Northrop (2000) Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
[11] Genette, Gérard (1997) Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. Translated by Channa Newman and Claude Doubinsky. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. | DOI 10.1177/004724419902900308
[12] Giddens, Anthony (2001) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber. London: Routledge.
[13] Hill, Christopher (1972) The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. London: Penguin Books.
[14] Hill, Christopher (1977) Milton and the English Revolution. London: Faber and Faber Limited.
[15] Hill, Christopher (2002) The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714. London: Routledge Classics.
[16] Jameson, Fredric (1979) Marxism and historicism. New Literary History 11(1), 41–73, DOI 10.2307/468870
[17] Jameson, Fredric (1986) Third world literature in the era of multinational capitalism. Social Text, 15, 65–88. DOI 10.2307/466493.
[18] Jameson, Fredric (1999) Religion and ideology: A political reading of Paradise Lost. In: Zunder, William (ed.) Paradise Lost: John Milton. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 47–57. | DOI 10.5040/9781350391895.ch-003
[19] Jameson, Fredric (2002) The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act. Hoboken: Routledge Classics.
[20] Jameson, Fredric (2015) The Ancients and the Postmoderns: On the Historicity of Forms. London: Verso Books.
[21] Katz, Claudio J. (1993) Karl Marx on the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Theory and Society, 22(3), 363–89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/657738.
[22] Lewalski, Barbara Kiefer (2003) The Life of John Milton: A Critical Biography. Chichester: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
[23] Loewenstein, David (2004) Representing Revolution in Milton and His Contemporaries: Religion, Politics, and Polemics in Radical Puritanism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[24] Milton, John (1853) The Prose Works...: A Posthumous Treatise on the Christian Doctrine... Tr. by CR Sumner. The History of Britain. A Brief History of Moscovia. Accedence Commenced Grammar. 1853-81. Vol. 5. Henry G. Bohn.
[25] Milton, John (2005) Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost (ed. by Gordon Teskey). New York: Norton.
[26] Milton, John (2011a) Areopagitica: A Defense of Free Speech. Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose (ed. by Jason P Rosenblatt). New York: Norton.
[27] Milton, John (2011b) Samson Agonistes: A Dramatic Poem. Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose (ed. by Jason P Rosenblatt). New York: Norton.
[28] Milton, John (2011c) The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose, (ed. by Jason P Rosenblatt). New York: Norton.
[29] Morris, Ian (1989) Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[30] Norbrook, David (2000) Writing the English Republic: Poetry, Rhetoric and Politics, 1627-1660. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[31] Rosenblatt, Jason P. (2011) Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose: Authoritative Texts, Biblical Sources, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
[32] Sauer, Elizabeth (1998) The politics of performance in the Inner Theater: Samson Agonistes as closet drama. In: Dobranski, Stephen B. (ed.) Milton and Heresy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 199–215. | DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511549335.011
[33] Schwartz, Louis (2007) The nightmare of history: Samson Agonistes. In: Duran, Angelica (ed.) Concise Companion to Milton. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 197–214. | DOI 10.1002/9780470757772.ch12
[34] Teskey, Gordon (2009) Delirious Milton: The Fate of the Poet in Modernity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[35] Westfall, Richard S. (1973) Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England. New Haven: University of Michigan Press.
[36] Wittreich, Joseph (1986) Interpreting Samson Agonistes. Princeton: University Press.
[37] Worden, Blair (2007) Literature and Politics in Cromwellian England: John Milton, Andrew Marvell, Marchamont Nedham. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[38] Young, Thomas (1644) Hopes Encouragement. London.
[2] Bennett, Joan S. (1998) Asserting eternal providence: John Milton through the window of liberation theology. In: Rumrich, John P. (ed.) Milton and Heresy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 219–243. | DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511549335.012
[3] Bobzien, Susanne (2004) Determinism and Freedom in Stoic Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[4] Campbell, Gordon and Thomas N. Corns (2008) John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[5] Carey, John (2002) A work in praise of terrorism? September 11 and 'Samson Agonistes' (John Milton). Times Literary Supplement 5188, 15–16.
[6] Crawforth, Hannah (2016) The politics of Greek tragedy in Samson Agonistes. The Seventeenth Century 31(2), 239–260, DOI 10.1080/0268117X.2016.1193286. |
[7] Feldhay, Rivka (2006) Religion. In: Park, Katharine and Daston, Lorraine (ed.) The Cambridge History of Science. Volume III. Early Modern Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 727–755.
[8] Fish, Stanley (1969) Question and answer in Samson Agonistes. Critical Quarterly 11(3), 237–265.
[9] Flotats, Rosa (1996) Knowledge and science in 'Paradise Lost.' SEDERI: Yearbook of the Spanish and Portuguese Society for English Renaissance Studies 7, 165–172.
[10] Frye, Northrop (2000) Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
[11] Genette, Gérard (1997) Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. Translated by Channa Newman and Claude Doubinsky. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. | DOI 10.1177/004724419902900308
[12] Giddens, Anthony (2001) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber. London: Routledge.
[13] Hill, Christopher (1972) The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. London: Penguin Books.
[14] Hill, Christopher (1977) Milton and the English Revolution. London: Faber and Faber Limited.
[15] Hill, Christopher (2002) The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714. London: Routledge Classics.
[16] Jameson, Fredric (1979) Marxism and historicism. New Literary History 11(1), 41–73, DOI 10.2307/468870
[17] Jameson, Fredric (1986) Third world literature in the era of multinational capitalism. Social Text, 15, 65–88. DOI 10.2307/466493.
[18] Jameson, Fredric (1999) Religion and ideology: A political reading of Paradise Lost. In: Zunder, William (ed.) Paradise Lost: John Milton. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 47–57. | DOI 10.5040/9781350391895.ch-003
[19] Jameson, Fredric (2002) The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act. Hoboken: Routledge Classics.
[20] Jameson, Fredric (2015) The Ancients and the Postmoderns: On the Historicity of Forms. London: Verso Books.
[21] Katz, Claudio J. (1993) Karl Marx on the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Theory and Society, 22(3), 363–89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/657738.
[22] Lewalski, Barbara Kiefer (2003) The Life of John Milton: A Critical Biography. Chichester: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
[23] Loewenstein, David (2004) Representing Revolution in Milton and His Contemporaries: Religion, Politics, and Polemics in Radical Puritanism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[24] Milton, John (1853) The Prose Works...: A Posthumous Treatise on the Christian Doctrine... Tr. by CR Sumner. The History of Britain. A Brief History of Moscovia. Accedence Commenced Grammar. 1853-81. Vol. 5. Henry G. Bohn.
[25] Milton, John (2005) Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost (ed. by Gordon Teskey). New York: Norton.
[26] Milton, John (2011a) Areopagitica: A Defense of Free Speech. Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose (ed. by Jason P Rosenblatt). New York: Norton.
[27] Milton, John (2011b) Samson Agonistes: A Dramatic Poem. Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose (ed. by Jason P Rosenblatt). New York: Norton.
[28] Milton, John (2011c) The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose, (ed. by Jason P Rosenblatt). New York: Norton.
[29] Morris, Ian (1989) Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[30] Norbrook, David (2000) Writing the English Republic: Poetry, Rhetoric and Politics, 1627-1660. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[31] Rosenblatt, Jason P. (2011) Milton's Selected Poetry and Prose: Authoritative Texts, Biblical Sources, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
[32] Sauer, Elizabeth (1998) The politics of performance in the Inner Theater: Samson Agonistes as closet drama. In: Dobranski, Stephen B. (ed.) Milton and Heresy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 199–215. | DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511549335.011
[33] Schwartz, Louis (2007) The nightmare of history: Samson Agonistes. In: Duran, Angelica (ed.) Concise Companion to Milton. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 197–214. | DOI 10.1002/9780470757772.ch12
[34] Teskey, Gordon (2009) Delirious Milton: The Fate of the Poet in Modernity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[35] Westfall, Richard S. (1973) Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England. New Haven: University of Michigan Press.
[36] Wittreich, Joseph (1986) Interpreting Samson Agonistes. Princeton: University Press.
[37] Worden, Blair (2007) Literature and Politics in Cromwellian England: John Milton, Andrew Marvell, Marchamont Nedham. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[38] Young, Thomas (1644) Hopes Encouragement. London.