Journal article
Satanic ingratitude and psychological determinism in Paradise Lost
- Abstract:
- This article suggests that Milton’s representation of Satanic ingratitude in book 4 of Paradise Lost imports into his epic poem some of his previous thoughts on unchangeable affections in the divorce tracts. Satan’s inability to repent in the soliloquy on Mount Niphates is routed through an experience of emotional fixity; he fails to feel gratitude for divine beneficence even though he knows he ought to feel it. In the divorce tracts, Milton bases his argument for divorce on the claim that certain affections, even negative ones, could not be changed because they originate in a person’s innermost nature. Satan’s soliloquy, I propose, explores the possibility that a similar emotional immutability may preclude certain persons from participating in virtue.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 288.6KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.5325/miltonstudies.64.2.0259
Authors
- Publisher:
- Pennsylvania State University Press
- Journal:
- Milton Studies More from this journal
- Volume:
- 64
- Issue:
- 2
- Pages:
- 259-282
- Publication date:
- 2022-08-01
- Acceptance date:
- 2022-04-26
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2330-796X
- ISSN:
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0076-8820
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2078492
- Local pid:
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pubs:2078492
- Deposit date:
-
2025-07-22
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- The Pennsylvania State University
- Copyright date:
- 2022
- Rights statement:
- Copyright © 2022 by The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.
- Notes:
- This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Pennsylvania State University Press at https://dx.doi.org/10.5325/miltonstudies.64.2.0259
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