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Overview
The England of John Milton's great poems was the England of Dissenters, those who refused to join the state church after the return of monarchy in 1660, seen as dangerous outcasts and rebels. Sharon Achinstein's book shows how a literary tradition of Dissent was produced by those who suffered political defeat and religious exclusion in Restoration England, bringing to view a range of writing that has been largely, and unjustly, neglected. Considering authors both inside and outside the Dissenting tradition, including Milton, John Bunyan, Richard Baxter, Mary Mollineaux, John Dryden, Andrew Marvell, Elizabeth Singer Rowe, and Isaac Watts, and other little-known Dissenting writers, Achinstein shows how a distinctive, Dissenting cultural legacy challenges our current notions of literary history, aesthetic value, and the relation between literature and politics. This important study will be of interest to students and general readers interested in England's turbulent seventeenth century, as well as Milton scholars and seventeenth-century literary and religious historians.Synopsis
The England of John Milton's great poems was the England of Dissenters, those who refused to join the state church after the return of monarchy in 1660 and were seen as dangerous outcasts and rebels. Sharon Achinstein reveals how a literary tradition of dissent was produced by those who suffered political defeat and religious exclusion in Restoration England. Disclosing a range of writing that has been largely and unjustly neglected, this important study is of interest to Milton scholars and seventeenth-century literary and religious historians.Editorials
From the Publisher
"...brilliant...a book with big ideas..." CLIO, Melinda S. Zook"Achinstein's readings of dissenting cultures, genres, and texts are generous and nuanced... Her readings of Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes combine a confident handling of biography, social history, and religious polemics with careful thematic and formal analysis... reminds us of the importance of seeing this literary culture whole." Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
"Offers a new and more nuanced and complicated [...] account of the value of dissenting literature." H-ALBION
"Sharon Achinstein's Literature and Dissent in Milton's England is a rich and eloquent book." SEL Studies in English Literature, Achsah Guibbory, Recent Studies in the English Renaissance
"This book brilliantly participates in the ongoing commentary on Dissent in seventeenth-century England." Journal of Religion
"This compelling study of the undervalued genres of dissent, especially hymns and funerals, is essential reading for all scholars of seventeenth-century England." - Rachel Warburton, Lakehead University