Milton and the Rabbis: Hebraism, Hellenism, and Christianity
Zoomicon-zoom-in
Milton and the Rabbis: Hebraism, Hellenism, and Christianity

Milton and the Rabbis: Hebraism, Hellenism, and Christianity

By
Jeffrey Shoulson (Author)  

Paperback

Available / dispatched within 1 - 4 weeks

Quantity
Taking as its starting point the long-standing characterization of Milton as a "Hebraic" writer, Milton and the Rabbis probes the limits of the relationship between the seventeenth-century English poet and polemicist and his Jewish antecedents. Shoulson's analysis moves back and forth between Milton's writings and Jewish writings of the first five centuries of the Common Era, collectively known as midrash. In exploring the historical and literary implications of these connections, Shoulson shows how Milton's text can inform a more nuanced reading of midrash just as midrash can offer new insights into Paradise Lost. Shoulson is unconvinced of a direct link between a specific collection of rabbinic writings and Milton's works. He argues that many of Milton's poetic ideas that parallel midrash are likely to have entered Christian discourse not only through early modern Christian Hebraicists but also through Protestant writers and preachers without special knowledge of Hebrew. At the heart of Shoulson's inquiry lies a fundamental question: When is an idea, a theme, or an emphasis distinctively Judaic or Hebraic and when is it Christian? The difficulty in answering such questions reveals and highlights the fluid interaction between ostensibly Jewish, Hellenistic, and Christian modes of thought not only during the early modern period but also early in time when rabbinic Judaism and Christianity began.
Jeffrey Shoulson is assistant professor of English and Judaic studies at the University of Miami.
  • Contributor: Jeffrey Shoulson
  • Imprint: Columbia University Press
  • ISBN13: 9780231123297
  • Number of Pages: 384
  • Format: Paperback
  • Publisher: Columbia University Press
  • Release Date: 2001-12-10
  • Binding: Paperback / softback
  • Biography: Jeffrey Shoulson is assistant professor of English and Judaic studies at the University of Miami.

Delivery Options

Home Delivery

Store Delivery

Free Returns

We hope you are delighted with everything you buy from us. However, if you are not, we will refund or replace your order up to 30 days after purchase. Terms and exclusions apply; find out more from our Returns and Refunds Policy.