The construction of Christ’s character in Paradise Regained, by John Milton
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5902/2176148571175Keywords:
Character, Virtues, Heroism, Christ, Paradise RegainedAbstract
In this article, we investigate the relationship between Paradise Regained and classical epic poetry via analysis of the role of epideictic rhetoric in the construction of Christ’s character. We take into account the reception of martial epics into the Christian literary tradition and the incorporation of biblical elements to rhetorical organisation tools originated in Antiquity. We discuss how the construction of Christ’s character comments on formal elements of representation of heroism, while also touching on theological discussions regarding virtue and free will. We argue that Christ’s character is structured via use of formal elements from both classical and biblical epic, and renaissance rules for the construction of character, which rely on Ancient use of epideictic.
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