Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Paradise Lost and the Politics of the Corporation

Haydon, Liam D. (2017) Paradise Lost and the Politics of the Corporation. Studies in English Literature, 57 (1). pp. 135-155. ISSN 0039-3657. E-ISSN 1522-9270. (doi:10.1353/sel.2017.0006) (KAR id:56152)

PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English
Download this file
(PDF/401kB)
[thumbnail of Paradise Lost and the Politics of the Corporation SEL Final Plaintext (2).pdf]
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
XML Word Processing Document (DOCX) Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
Contact us about this Publication
[thumbnail of Paradise Lost and the Politics of the Corporation SEL Final Plaintext.docx]
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1353/sel.2017.0006

Abstract

This essay considers the effects of corporate activity on the life and work of John Milton. It analyses the ways in which the moral certainties of Paradise Lost are expressed through mercantile metaphors, especially the corporate idea of debt and credit. It further argues that Milton considers virtue through the manner of collective organisation – to be part of an equitable collective is to be virtuous (and vice versa). He therefore turns to the language of the body corporate in Paradise Lost when describing angelic society: this heavenly corporation is the fulfilment of Milton’s ideas of civic virtue, a modulation of his disappointment with the republic in England into an idealised collective.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1353/sel.2017.0006
Projects: Global Determinants of the English Constitution
Uncontrolled keywords: corporation, Milton, angels, society, Paradise Lost
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Funders: Leverhulme Trust (https://ror.org/012mzw131)
Depositing User: L. Haydon
Date Deposited: 27 Jun 2016 10:40 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 19:34 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/56152 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Haydon, Liam D..

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.