During a time when ideological debates between Milton critics remained largely unresolved, Stanley Fish reconciled both sides of the Milton Controversy with Surprised by Sin, positing a theoretically sophisticated method that centers the poems meaning in the readers experience. Christian and non-Christian critics became enfranchised in critical debate since their reactions, according to Fish, were valid and intended by Milton. Borrowing his intentionalist approach from A.J.A. Waldock, Fish asserts his version of both author and text while implicitly employing a radically subjective hermeneutics. Fish focuses on the multiple and contradictory linguistic meanings within Paradise Lost, locating the source of these contradictions in the human mind. Viewing the problems of language as a result of human distance from the originator of language (the divine Logos), Fishs Milton strongly draws on the Christianity of C.S Lewis. In contrast to the methods of post-Derridean deconstruction, Fishs Milton evinces the instability of language in order to strengthen the mind of his reader in a metaphysically Christian faith. Over the course of four decades, Fishs historically plausible critical framework became accepted as a valuable basis for critical practice. However, his work also posed a challenge to later critics who disagreed with its ideological basis and its effect on critical method. Critical response to Fishs work often reflects an anxiety that recalls the theory of Harold Blooms Anxiety of Influence. Loosely following Blooms terms, I contend that critical reactions to Surprised by Sin reflect an ongoing anxiety over Fishs effective mediation with Miltons Paradise Lost.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-06102005-104340 |
| Date | 10 June 2005 |
| Creators | Thoits, Thomas |
| Contributors | Robert C. McMahon, Carl H. Freedman, Anna K. Nardo |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06102005-104340/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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