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Seminar №4 
 John Milton 
PLAN: 
1.John Milton “Paradise Lost” 
2. Restoration Drama. John Dryden
Restoration tragedy
is‘heroic’ tragedy. “All for Love” or 
“Aureng-Zebe”.
3.John Gay’s theatrical work “The Beggar’s Opera”.
 
 
Milton's eyesight had been steadily declining for years, most likely the result of untreated 
glaucoma. By February 1652, he had gone completely blind. At a time before Braille, recorded 
books or any of the technologies that assist visually impaired people today, blindness was like an 
intellectual death sentence. Milton was determined not to let that happen. He dictated his 
business correspondence to a transcriber for as long as he could, and insisted that his daughters 
read to him. Milton composed a poem to explain his feelings.
"When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide 
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent 
To serve therewith my Maker, and present 
My true account, lest He returning chide;
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"

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I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent 
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need 
Either man's work or His own gifts. Who best 
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state 
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.""
With his personal life in shambles, Milton's political fortunes began to go south as well. The 
reformation that Milton helped to shepherd in did not last long. Following a protracted political 
struggle after Oliver Cromwell's death, Charles II returned to London and took the throne; 
Cromwell's body was soon exhumed and publicly defiled in a number of nasty ways. Those who 
had assisted in the earlier regime were suspect. Milton was arrested in 1659 and briefly 
imprisoned for a few months. After friends intervened to secure his release, Milton was forced to 
move out of London and into semi-exile in the country. In 1663, he married his third wife, 
Elizabeth Minshull. 
Of that sort of Dramatic Poem which is call'd Tragedy 
Tragedy, as it was antiently compos'd, hath been ever held the gravest, moralest, and 
most profitable of all other Poems: therefore said by Aristotle to be of power by raising pity and 
fear, or terror, to purge the mind of those and such like passions, that is to temper and reduce 
them to just measure with a kind of delight, stirr'd up by reading or seeing those passions well 
imitated. Nor is Nature wanting in her own effects to make good his assertion: for so in Physic 
things of melancholic hue and quality are us'd against melancholy, sowr against sowr, salt to 
remove salt humours. Hence Philosophers and other gravest Writers, as Cicero, Plutarch and 
others, frequently cite out of Tragic Poets, both to adorn and illustrate thirdiscourse. The 
Apostle Paul himself thought it not unworthy to insert a verse of Euripides into the Text of Holy 
Scripture, I Cor. 15.33, and Paræus commenting on the Revelation, divides the whole Book as a 
Tragedy, into Acts distinguisht each by a Chorus of Heavenly Harpings and Song b'tween. 
Heretofore Men in highest dignity have labour'd not a little to be thought able to compose a 
Tragedy. Of that honour Dionysius the elderwas no less ambitious, then before of his attaining to 
the Tyranny. Augustus Cæsar also had begun his Ajax,but unable to please his own judgment 
with what he had begun, left it unfinisht. Seneca the Philosopher is by some thought the Author 
of those Tragedies (at lestthe best of them) that go under that name. Gregory Nazianzen a Father 
of the Church, thought it not unbeseeming the sanctity of his person to write a Tragedy, which 
he entitl'd, Christ suffering. This is mention'd to vindicate Tragedy from the small esteem, or 
rather infamy, which in the account of many it undergoes at this day with other common 
Interludes; hap'ning through the Poets error of intermixing Comic stuff with Tragic sadness and 
gravity; or introducing trivial and vulgar persons, which by all judicious hath bin counted absurd; 

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and brought in without discretion, corruptly to gratifie the people. And though antientTragedy 
use no Prologue, yet using sometimes, in case of self defence, or explanation, that 
which Martial calls an Epistle; in behalf of this Tragedy coming forth after the antient manner, 
much different from what among us passes for best, thus much before-hand may be Epistl'd; 
that Chorus is here introduc'd after the Greek manner, not antient only but modern, and still in 
use among the Italians. In the modelling therefore of this Poem, with good reason, 
the Antients and Italians are rather follow'd, as of much more authority and fame. The measure 
of Verse us'd in the Chorus is of all sorts, call'd by the Greeks Monostrophic, or 
ratherApolelymenon, without regard had to Strophe, Antistrophe or Epod, which were a kind 
of Stanza'sfram'd only for the Music, then us'd with the Chorus that sung; not essential to the 
Poem, and therefore not material; or being divided into Stanza's or Pauses, they may 
be call'd Allæostropha. Division into Act and Scene referring chiefly to the Stage (to which this 
work never was intended) is here omitted. 
It suffices if the whole Drama be found not produc'tbeyond the fift Act, Of the style 
and uniformitie, and that commonly call'd the Plot, whether intricate or explicit, which is nothing 
indeed but such œconomy, or disposition of the fable as may stand best withverisimilitude and 
decorum; they only will best judge who are not unacquainted with Æschylus, 
Sophocles,and Euripides, the three Tragic Poets unequall'd yet by any, and the best rule to all 
who endeavour to write Tragedy. The circumscription of time wherein the whole Drama begins 
and ends, is according to antientrule, and best example, within the space of 24 hours. 
John Milton is best known for Paradise Lost, widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in 
English. Together with Paradise Regained, it formed his reputation as one of the greatest English 
writers. In his prose works he advocated the abolition of the Church of England. 
Milton's poetry was slow to see the light of day, at least under his name. His first published poem 
was "On Shakespeare" (1630), anonymously included in the Second Folio edition of William 
Shakespeare's plays in 1632. 
Samson Agonistes, (Greek: “Samson the Athlete” or “Samson the Wrestler”) tragedy by John 
Milton, published in the same volume as his epic Paradise Regained in 1671. It is considered the 
greatest English drama based on the Greek model and is known as a closet tragedy. 
Samson ( Shimshon , "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the 
ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible and one of the last of the 
leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered 
to be an Israelite version of the popular Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by 
the Sumerian Enkidu and the Greek Heracles. 
The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazirite, and that he was given immense strength 
to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a 
lion with his bare hands and massacring an entire army of Philistines using only the jawbone of 
a donkey. However, if Samson's long hair were cut, then his Nazirite vow would be violated and 
he would lose his strength. 

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Samson was betrayed by his lover Delilah, who ordered a servant to cut his hair while he was 
sleeping and turned him over to his Philistine enemies, who gouged out his eyes and forced him 
to grind grain in a mill at Gaza. While there, his hair began to regrow. When the Philistines took 
Samson into their temple of Dagon, Samson asked to rest against one of the support pillars. After 
being granted permission, he prayed to God and miraculously recovered his strength, allowing 
him to bring down the columns, collapsing the temple and killing himself as well as all of the 
Philistines. In some Jewish traditions, Samson is believed to have been buried in Tel Tzora in 
Israel overlooking the Sorek valley. 
According to the account in the Book of Judges, Samson lived during a time of repeated conflict 
between Israel and Philistia, when God was disciplining the Israelites by giving them "into the 
hand of the Philistines".Manoah was an Israelite from Zorah, descended from the Danites,and his 
wife had been unable to conceive. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and 
proclaimed that the couple would soon have a son who would begin to deliver the Israelites from 
the Philistines. 
The Angel of the Lord stated that Manoah's wife was to abstain from all alcoholic 
drinks, unclean foods, and her promised child was not to shave or cut his hair. He was to be 
a Nazirite from birth. In ancient Israel, those wanting to be especially dedicated to God for a time 
could take a Nazirite vow which included abstaining from wine and spirits, not cutting hair or 
shaving, and other requirements.Manoah's wife believed the Angel of the Lord; her husband was 
not present, so he prayed and asked God to send the messenger once again to teach them how to 
raise the boy who was going to be born. 
After the Angel of the Lord returned, Manoah asked him his name, but he said, "Why do you ask 
my name? It is beyond understanding.'' Manoah then prepared a sacrifice, but the Angel of the 
Lord would only allow it to be for God. He touched it with his staff, miraculously engulfing it in 
flames, and then ascended into the sky in the fire. This was such dramatic evidence of the nature 
of the Messenger that Manoah feared for his life, since it was said that no one could live after 
seeing God. However, his wife convinced him that, if God planned to slay them, he would never 
have revealed such things to them. In due time, their son Samson was born, and he was raised 
according to the Angel's instructions. 
Milton is one of the greatest poets of the English language. His career as a poet was marked by 
private tragedies and public controversies. Samson Agonistes is a piece of work, which was 
composed by Milton not as a pure didactic exercise but also as extended personal meditation. It 
seems to be one of his attempts to justify the ways of God to himself and thereby establish a 
vision of Christian heroism that answers the fears and misgivings of his own heart and 
mind. Samson Agonistes also shows Milton's struggle with politics after the defeat of the Good 
Old Cause in which he supported strongly. The events and emotions surrounding his 
composition Samson Agonistes had a great influence on this work. 
Nobody knows exactly when Samson Agonistes was written but it is assumed that it was in a 
time where his own resurrection and salvation had begun and that he had taken Samson as a role 
model less numinous than Christ to express his inner feelings. Samson Agonistes is therefor 

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more interesting as a religious, political and autobiographical play than as the classical, Greek 
tragedy or as the Christian comedy, as so many people have judged it. 
In this term paper I will work out how much politics and religion have influenced Samson 
Agonistes and whether there are bibliographical correspondences between Milton and Samson. 
Samson has been the subject of both rabbinic and Christian commentary, with some 
Christians viewing him as a type of Jesus, based on similarities between their lives. Notable 
depictions of Samson include John Milton's closet drama Samson Agonistes and Cecil B. 
DeMille's 1949 Hollywood film Samson and Delilah. Samson also plays a major role in Western 
art and traditions. 
When he was a young adult, Samson left the hills of his people to see the cities of Philistia. He 
fell in love with a Philistine woman from Timnah, whom he decided to marry, ignoring the 
objections of his parents over the fact that she was non-Israelite. In the development of the 
narrative, the intended marriage was shown to be part of God's plan to strike at the Philistines. 
According to the biblical account, Samson was repeatedly seized by the "Spirit of the 
Lord," who blessed him with immense strength. The first instance of this is seen when Samson 
was on his way to ask for the Philistine woman's hand in marriage, when he was attacked by a 
lion. He simply grabbed it and ripped it apart, as the spirit of God divinely empowered him. 
However, Samson kept it a secret, not even mentioning the miracle to his parents.He arrived at 
the Philistine's house and became betrothed to her. He returned home, then came back to Timnah 
some time later for the wedding. On his way, Samson saw that bees had nested in the carcass of 
the lion and made honey. He ate a handful of the honey and gave some to his parents. 
At the wedding feast, Samson told a riddle to his thirty groomsmen (all Philistines). If they could 
solve it, he would give them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments, but if they could not solve 
it, they would give him thirty pieces of fine linen and garments.The riddle was a veiled account 
of two encounters with the lion, at which only he was present: 
Out of the eater came something to eat. 
Out of the strong came something sweet. 
The Philistines were infuriated by the riddle. The thirty groomsmen told Samson's new wife that 
they would burn her and her father's household if she did not discover the answer to the riddle 
and tell it to them. At the urgent and tearful imploring of his bride, Samson told her the solution, 
and she told it to the thirty groomsmen. 
When he was a young adult, Samson left the hills of his people to see the cities of Philistia. He 
fell in love with a Philistine woman from Timnah, whom he decided to marry, ignoring the 

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objections of his parents over the fact that she was non-Israelite.In the development of the 
narrative, the intended marriage was shown to be part of God's plan to strike at the Philistines. 
According to the biblical account, Samson was repeatedly seized by the "Spirit of the Lord," who 
blessed him with immense strength. The first instance of this is seen when Samson was on his 
way to ask for the Philistine woman's hand in marriage, when he was attacked by a lion. He 
simply grabbed it and ripped it apart, as the spirit of God divinely empowered him. However, 
Samson kept it a secret, not even mentioning the miracle to his parents. He arrived at the 
Philistine's house and became betrothed to her. He returned home, then came back to Timnah 
some time later for the wedding. On his way, Samson saw that bees had nested in the carcass of 
the lion and made honey.He ate a handful of the honey and gave some to his parents. 
Samson then traveled to Ashkelon (a distance of roughly 30 miles) where he slew thirty 
Philistines for their garments; he then returned and gave those garments to his thirty 
groomsmen. In a rage, Samson returned to his father's house. The family of his would-have-been 
bride instead gave her to one of the groomsmen as wife.Some time later, Samson returned to 
Timnah to visit his wife, unaware that she was now married to one of his former groomsmen. 
But her father refused to allow Samson to see her, offering to give Samson a younger sister 
instead. 
Samson went out, gathered 300 foxes, and tied them together in pairs by their tails. He then 
attached a burning torch to each pair of foxes' tails and turned them loose in the grain fields and 
olive groves of the Philistines. The Philistines learned why Samson burned their crops and 
burned Samson's wife and father-in-law to death in retribution. 
In revenge, Samson slaughtered many more Philistines, saying, "I have done to them what they 
did to me." Samson then took refuge in a cave in the rock of Etam. An army of Philistines came 
to the Tribe of Judah and demanded that 3,000 men of Judah deliver them Samson. With 
Samson's consent, given on the condition that the Judahites would not kill him themselves, they 
tied him with two new ropes and were about to hand him over to the Philistines when he broke 
free of the ropes.Using the jawbone of a donkey, he slew 1,000 Philistines 
Later, Samson travels to Gaza, where he stays at a harlot's house.His enemies wait at the gate of 
the city to ambush him, but he tears the gate from its very hinges and frame and carries it to "the 
hill that is in front of Hebron". 
He then falls in love with Delilah in the valley of Sorek.The Philistines approach Delilah and 
induce her with 1,100 silver coins to find the secret of Samson's strength so that they can capture 
their enemy, but Samson refuses to reveal the secret and teases her, telling her that he will lose 

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his strength if he is bound with fresh bowstrings.She does so while he sleeps, but when he wakes 
up he snaps the strings. She persists, and he tells her that he can be bound with new ropes. She 
ties him up with new ropes while he sleeps, and he snaps them, too.She asks again, and he says 
that he can be bound if his locks are woven into a weaver's loom.She weaves them into a loom, 
but he simply destroys the entire loom and carries it off when he wakes. 
Delilah, however, persists and Samson finally capitulates and tells Delilah that God supplies his 
power because of his consecration to God as a Nazirite, symbolized by the fact that a razor has 
never touched his head, and that if his hair is cut off he will lose his strength.Delilah then woos 
him to sleep "in her lap" and calls for a servant to cut his hair. Samson loses his strength and he 
is captured by the Philistines who blind him by gouging out his eyes.They then take him to Gaza, 
imprison him, and put him to work turning a large millstone and grinding grain 
One day, the Philistine leaders assemble in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, one of 
their most important deities, for having delivered Samson into their hands.They summon Samson 
so that people can watch him perform for them. The temple is so crowded that people are even 
climbing onto the roof to watch—and all the rulers of the entire government of Philistia have 
gathered there too, some 3,000 people in all.Samson is led into the temple, and he asks his 
captors to let him lean against the supporting pillars to rest. However, whilst in prison his hair 
had begun to grow again. He prays for strength and God gives him strength to break the pillars, 
causing the temple to collapse, killing him and the people inside. 
After his death, Samson's family recovered his body from the rubble and buried him near 
the tomb of his father Manoah. A tomb structure which some attribute to Samson and his father 
stands on the top of the mountain in Tel Tzora.At the conclusion of Judges 16, it is said that 
Samson had "judged" Israel for twenty years. The Bible does not mention the fate of Delilah. 
Samson Agonistes is based on Judges 13-16 but Milton limits the biblical Samson story on the 
final episode in Samson's life. 
Though the drama is actually undivided it unfolds in five sections. 
The first episode shows Samson alone with the chorus of Hebrews (l.1-325). 
The blinded Samson has a holiday from the slave labour in the Gaza because this day celebrates 
Dagon, the fish God of the Philistine, Samson's captors. The chorus and Samson bitterly compare 
his former career as a hero and dedicated servant of God with his present misery as a captive and 
the downfall of his folk. Samson differentiates between his own sins and the sins of Israel's rulers 
which are by no matter for him the real reason for the suffering of God's chosen people. At the 
end of this scene the chorus earnestly debates God's justice. 
In the second scene Samson and his father Manoa meet. (l.326-709) 

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Manoa hurts further with his "I told you" attitude towards Samson. Manoa is entirely too 
optimistic and bustles off to offer ransom. Samson passionately vents his sense of hopelessness 
and the chorus ponders the baffling ways of God. 
The third scene is the encounter between Samson and his wife Dalila. (l.710-1009) 
Dalila begs her husband for forgiveness because she is just a weak woman. He should 
instead blame himself for yielding for femininity. She only gave away his secret for love and 
because she thought that the Philistines would not capture him, only diminish his strength. Also 
she offers to mother him as he is blinded. Samson has a point of recognition and takes the blame 
on himself but nevertheless orders her off. Hers is not Samson's concept of marriage as sex 
bondage. Samson's savage dismissal demonstrates his fear of yielding if they establish physical 
contact. 
The fourth episode (l.1061-1440) is the turn of the drama. Samson is confronted with Harapha, a 
giant Philistine, and a public officer. 
Harapha is a bluster and bravado man. He is laughing about the great man's downfall. A 
pretended motion by Samson chases Harapha off. When the Philistine officer first summons 
Samson to give an exhibition of strength for the amusement of the celebrants of Dagon, Samson 
first refuses, but then, feeling a surge of superhuman strength and divine, agrees. 
The last episode takes place at the feast (l.1441-1758) 
Manoa hastens to Samson to tell him of his success in ransoming Samson. Cries from the temple 
of Dagon are followed by a messenger, who relates the off stage violence. Samson pulled down 
the pillars supporting the structure and involved in his own death all the chief Philistines. Manoa 
and the chorus realize the fitting heroic end, willed by God. 
The Conclusion traces how Milton investigates the extent to which tragedy is able to render 
divinity intelligible. If Reformation tragedy offers pointed insight into probability and necessity 
in nature, or serves as an object lesson in immanent causality, Samson Agonistes troubles such 
pursuits, illuminating instead the fundamental limits of both tragedy and human comprehension. 
In Heinsius’ treatments of tragedy, for instance, miracles are rare, and intervening gods generally 
confound otherwise laudable attempts to understand causality in nature. Divine intervention is no 
less difficult to discern in Samson Agonistes; Milton is skeptical, however, of tragedy’s capacity 
to render either God or totality intelligible as such. The philosophical account of tragedy that 
emerges across this book reaches an impasse in Milton’s 1671 poems, works that nonetheless 
look forward to other philosophical horizons for tragedy in modernity. 
References: Achinstein, Sharon. "Samson Agonistes" in A Companion to Milton. Ed. 
Thomas Corns. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.Bush, Douglas, ed. The Complete Poetical 
Works of John Milton. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.Coffey, John. "Pacifist, 
Quietist, or Patient Militant? John Milton and the Restoration" Milton Studies 42 (2002): 149–

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174.Di Salvo, Jackie. "Intestine Thorn: Samson's Struggle with the Woman Within" in Milton 
and the Idea of Woman. Ed. Julia Walker. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988. 
Tests
1. As is consistent with his practice in his other tragedies, in King Lear 
Shakespeare's hero is 
A. an aristocrat and a faithful follower of a prince or general. 
B. a noble person whose character flaws cause his own destruction. 
C. a virtuous person who is the victim of a plot organized by an evil person. 
D. an average person who through his suffering comes to represent his society. 
2. The first stage in the ritual sacrifice of the hero-victim involves a 
general evil that pervades society‹in King Lear, this evil in the abstract is 
A. lechery and adultery.
B. atheism and hypocrisy. 
C. lasciviousness or lust.
D. jealousy and ingratitude. 
3. In King Lear as in many modern tragedies, the protagonist is for the 
most part 
A. a passive victim rather than an active agent in his own destruction. 
B. a fundamentally decent person who is destroyed by a cruel, unfeeling 
society. 
C. a foolish person who abuses or misuses the power that society has given 
him. 
D. opposed by those who cannot understand him, are misguided, or are 
sadistic. 
4. Shakespeare added certain touches of his own to the Lear story; however, 
from the original version he retained 
A. Lear's going insane.
B. the Gloucester subplot. 
C. Cordelia'sdieing before Lear. 
D. the names Lear, Cordelia, and Regan. 
5. Though Gloucester's bastard son may be as evil as Lear's elder 
daughters, he--unlike them 
A. acts emotionally and illogically. 
B. even to the end of his life is never moved by pity. 
C. is hypocritical, spiteful, vengeful, and remorseless. 
D. fashions opportunities in which to carry out his evil plans.
6. The universe of Shakespeare's King Lear is best defined by the term 
A. Darwinian. B. Freudian. C. nemesis. D. Great Chain of Being. 
7. Edgar suggests after his victory over Edmund that the gods are just; in 
other words, Edgar comes to believe in the powers of 
A. catharsis. B. hubris. C. nemesis. D. stichomythia. 

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8. Edmund identifies himself with the Goddess Nature because he deems her 
A. logical and orderly.
B. savage and ungovernable. C. generative and powerful. D. awe-inspiring and majestic. 
9. It is highly coincidental that 
A. Goneril should be carrying on an extra-marital affair with Edmund. 
B. the disguised Edgar should be in the same cottage as the outcast Lear. 
C. the French army should land in Britain in time to rescue Lear and 
Cordelia. 
D at the very moment Lear loses his sanity, Gloucester should lose his eyesight. 
10. Cordelia is a surprising and somewhat improbable combination of 
A. sincerity and pigheadedness. B. devotion and passivity. 
C. outspokenness and treachery. D. resignation and despair. 
Answers 
1. B 2. D 3. A 4. D 5. D 6. A
7. C 8. B 9. B 10. A