Legal Epic

"Paradise Lost" and the Early Modern Law

Chapman Alison A.

The seventeenth century saw some of the most important jurisprudential changes in England's history, yet the period has been largely overlooked in the rich field of literature and law. Helping to fill this gap, "The Legal Epic" is the first book to situate the great poet and polemicist John Milton at the center of late seventeenth-century legal history. Alison A. Chapman argues that Milton's "Paradise Lost" sits at the apex of the early modern period's long fascination with law and judicial processes. Milton's world saw law and religion as linked disciplines and thought therefore that in different ways, both law and religion should reflect the will of God. Throughout "Paradise Lost", Milton invites his readers to judge actions using not only reason and conscience but also core principles of early modern jurisprudence. Law thus informs Milton's attempt to "justify the ways of God to men" and points readers toward the types of legal justice that should prevail on earth. Adding to the growing interest in the cultural history of law, "The Legal Epic" shows that England's preeminent epic poem is also a sustained reflection on the role law plays in human society.

About the Author

Alison A. Chapman is professor of English at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the author of "Patrons and Patron Saints in Early Modern English Literature".

Reviews

"This is a terrific piece of scholarship. Chapman makes a very strong case for Milton's intimate familiarity with English and Continental law; his commitment to a natural law position that insisted upon the fundamental connection among human law, right reason, and divine law; and the relevance of legal concepts to 'Paradise Lost'. 'The Legal Epic' will fundamentally change how we read Milton's poem" – Debora K. Shuger, University of California, Los Angeles

"Chapman's excellent study of 'Paradise Lost' as a 'legal epic' raises the bar. She defamiliarizes the poem by demonstrating just how much it is interpenetrated by Milton's self-confident and precise understanding of daily legal practice. Urging us to remember that he was the son of a scrivener and the brother of a judge, her book reveals a Milton whose profound sense of contingency and God's grace never obscures his imaginative engagement with the intricacies of the law" – Paul Stevens, University of Toronto

"More deeply than any other study, 'The Legal Epic' illuminates the ways Milton creatively employs and transforms the language and principles of early modern law in 'Paradise Lost'. Chapman persuasively shows that understanding Milton's use of legal language and concepts in relation to theology is crucial to understanding his poetic theodicy. This interdisciplinary book is a major contribution to Milton studies and to the study of early modern literature and law. An outstanding achievement" – David Loewenstein, Penn State-University Park

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