The sacred complex
Subtitle: on the psychogenesis of Paradise lost
By: William Kerrigan.
Contributors: Milton, John, 1608-1674.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 1983
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 344
Subjects: Milton, John, 1608-1674; Psychoanalysis and literature -- England
Description: This reading of Milton juxtaposes the poet's theology and Freud's account of the Oedipus complex in ways that yield both new understanding of Milton and a model for psychoanalytic interpretation of literature. The book ranges widely through the art and life of Milton, including extensive discussions of his theological irregularities and the significance, medical and symbolic, he assigned to his blindness. Kerrigan analyzes the oedipal aspect of Milton's religion; examines the nature of the Miltonic godhead; studies Milton's analogies linking human, angelic, and cosmic bodies; and explores Milton's symbolism of home. In a commanding demonstration, Kerrigan delineates how the great epic and the psyche of its author bestow meaning on each other. -- from dust cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.