Milton and Gender

Description

Milton's contempt for women has been accepted since Samuel Johnson's famous Life of the poet. Subsequent critics have long debated whether Milton's writings were anti- or pro-feminine, a problem further complicated by his advocacy of 'divorce on demand' for men. Milton and Gender re-evaluates these claims of Milton as anti-feminist, pointing out that he was not seen that way by contemporaries, but espoused startlingly modern ideas of marriage and the relations between the sexes. The first two sections of specially commissioned essays in this volume investigate the representations of gender and sexuality in Milton's prose and verse. In the final section, the responses of female readers ranging from George Eliot and Virginia Woolf to lesser known artists and revolutionaries are brought to bear on Milton's afterlife and reputation. Together, these essays provide a thoroughly new perspective on the contested issues of femininity and masculinity, marriage and divorce in Milton's work.

Catherine Gimelli Martin is Professor of English Literature at the University of Memphis.

"Maintaining the highest standards of scholarship and critical acumen, the contributors engage Miltons writings by reference to the cultural milieu of 17th-century EnglandThis timely volume auspiciously rides the crest of interest in the very topics that guarantee Miltons ongoing appeal to every generation." - Choice "The controversy over Milton's position on gender assumes center court in Catherine Gimelli Martin's very useful collection of essays..." - SEL: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 "Milton and Gender is a must-read not only for the usual suspects but also for cultural warriors on both the left and right." -Katharine Gillespie, Miami University "The impressive range her makes this an important and provocative collection...The readings are rigorous and inventive, and the contradictions and paradoxes that they finally acknowledge signal the ongoing life of the 350-year-old debate about Milton and Gender." Renaissance Quarterly Paula Loscocco, Sarah Lawrence College