Concerning literary theory, this thesis promotes the
view that Milton acceeded to the idea that in literature there
exists a hierarchy of forms (ranging in order of value from
the epic to the tragedy, from the tragedy to the comedy, and
from the comedy to the lyric). The principal consideration
throughout the work is whether the epic or the tragedy is
the highest of all literary forms.
Milton's debt to Plato and Aristotle is discussed, and
his disagreement or agreement with Aristotle's evaluation
of tragedy as superior to the epic is debated. This argument
gives rise to an even wider problem, that of the
relative merits and influences of Platonism and Aristotelianism and how those two forces, sometimes complementary, sometimes
opposed, influenced Milton and the sixteenth-century
Italian critics whom Milton acknowledges as worthy critics
for a poet to follow,
A further chapter is devoted to a fundamental point in
literary theory which arises out of the previous considerations the proper place of the concepts of the general
and the particular in poetry and in art generally. Milton's
own attitude to particularization and generalization is,
of course, the object of the speculation. The argument of
the thesis, following upon this lead, devotes itself for a
chapter to the manner and result of Milton's attitude, as
it is shown by the construction of Paradise host. The consideration of his construction thence leads to what is
probably the key to the understanding of the epic as a
wholes the unequalled accomplishment of the most complete
time-scheme found anywhere in poetry.
The core of the thesis is presented in the consideration of Book IX of Paradise Lost, which is recognized as
the tragedy within the whole epic, self-contained, and
offering therefore itself as the answer to those (like Aristotle) who object to the lack of concentration and the
overly diffuse nature of epics in general,
The final chapter of the thesis points in a new
direction. This question is asked: What is the value of
Paradise Lost? And several of the emotional tests of value
are considered,
because of its integration with the thesis as a
whole, there has been added a consideration of Samson
Agonistes, with special reference to Aristotle, in the form
of an Appendix. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41682 |
| Date | January 1961 |
| Creators | Dumaresq, William Wayne |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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