Following the editors' introduction to the collection, the essays in Scholarly Milton examine the nature of Milton's own formidable scholarship and its implications for his prose and poetry-"scholarly Milton" the writer-as well as subsequent scholars' historical and theoretical framing of Milton studies as an object of scholarly attention-"scholarly Milton" as at first an emergent and later an established academic discipline. The essays are particularly concerned with the topics of the ethical ends of learning, of Milton's attention to the trivium within the Renaissance humanist educational system, and the development of scholarly commentary on Milton's writings. Originally selected from the best essays presented at the 2015 Conference on John Milton in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the essays have been considerably revised and expanded for publication.

This volume documents the reception and interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear by critics, editors and general readers from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. Following an introduction which provides an historical account of the play's critical reception from the earliest times to the present day, the volume presents a selection of original documents, together with contextual head notes and biographical sketches of the authors and a rationale for their selection, as well as a list of suggested further reading. The chronological arrangement of the text-excerpts engages the readers in a direct and unbiased dialogue, whereas the introduction offers a critical evaluation from a current stance, including modern theories and methods. Thus the volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of the play and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century.

Yearly volume containing twelve essays on topics from Shakespeare to Middleton, Donne, Propertius, political resistance and legitimation, Elizabethan anthologies, and Milton. This volume collects the best scholarly essays submitted to the Southeastern Renaissance Conference in 2006. Two focus on Shakespeare: one on twins in The Comedy of Errors, one on differences between the Quarto and Folio versions of the reunion of Lear and Cordelia. Three essays deal with non-Shakespearean drama, examining the unvarying prefatory matter in frequently reprinted dramatic texts, economic systems in Middleton's city comedy, and theoriesof political resistance in revenge tragedy. Political resistance is also the theme of an essay on the satires of Donne and Propertius, while political legitimation is the subject of one on Medici family portraiture. Two essays concern Elizabethan anthologies: one on the unexamined collection Youthes Witte, the other on childbirth prayers in The Monument of Matrones. One essay on Milton's treatment of forgiveness and two on his Samson Agonistes conclude the volume, showing the unexpected affinities between Milton's tragedy and Jonson's comedy Bartholomew Fair and meditating upon the challenge to interpretation posed by end of the play. Contributors: John Adrian, David Bergeron, Kevin Donovan, Heather L. Sale Holian, Matthew T. Lynch, Steven W. May, Andrew Shifflett, Gerald Snare, Susan C. Staub, Emily Stockard, Lewis Walker, and George Walton Williams M. Thomas Hester is Professor of English at North Carolina State University, and Christopher Cobb is Assistant Professor of English at Saint Mary's College.

Bringing together eight original essays from leading and emerging Miltonists, this volume explores a second wave of critical thought about Milton's monist materialism, the view that all existence arises from a single substance or reality. Contributors examine sensory matters of fragrance and sound, the literary politics of walking and of sexual reproduction, the ontology of embodiment as human beings and angels, and the appropriation of Milton's materialism by both early Mormons in the nineteenth century and fringe figures such as gun enthusiasts in the twentieth. In so doing, they demonstrate the ongoing relevance of Milton's writings in the history of views of embodiment and materialist thought.