Spring 2022: Milton and Gender

This semester’s class will consider the role of gender in Milton’s works. We will, of course, discuss relationships between people, following up on previous semester’s topics (like “Men and Women” and “Milton’s Eve”), but we will also consider how gender works itself out amongst Milton’s angels, and even in relation to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How does Milton make gender a central element of creation, and in what ways does Milton’s writing complicate our understanding of gender? We will read Milton’s greatest works, including Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.