Inside Paradise Lost: Reading the Designs of Milton's Epic

"This magisterial study combines massive erudition with great interpretive subtlety. Written with lucidity and wit, Inside 'Paradise Lost' provides an indispensable revisionary account of the Miltonic epic's relation to its epic predecessors and to literary tradition more generally."--Joshua Scodel, University of Chicago

"This is a comprehensive, freshly researched, and fully articulated reading of Paradise Lost as a whole. The results are revelatory. Astonishingly, some of Milton's unmistakable imitations of major predecessors are being cited here apparently for the first time. Quint's book is essential reading not only for Miltonists but also for scholars of comparative epic, the Renaissance's relation to the classics, and the classical tradition more generally. At the same time, the book's clear prose and careful analysis make it accessible to students."--Gordon Braden, University of Virginia