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Samson Agonistes
Samson Agonistes, the last work of Milton, is a poetic drama that is
written in blank verse and modeled on Greek tragedy. It was written like a
“closet drama” which is for reading rather than for performing a stage,
because there is not too much plot structure and character development. The
story is also taken from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament.
Samson Agonistes (meaning “Samson the Athlete”) is chosen by
God to help Israelites extricate from the oppression of
Philistines. With
his invincible physical strength that comes from his long hair, he swept
away his enemies and became the champion for the freedom of his nation.
However, he divulges the secret of his great physical strength to his wife, Dalila, who betrays him. The Philistines shave his hair and blind his eyes
when Samson is sleeping. Samson loses his great power and is kept as slave.
In prison, he is visited several times. His father, Manoah, visited hem and
tried to ransom him. Though his wife is seriously accused by Samson, she
still wants him to surrender to Philistines. Harapha, who represents brute
force with scorn for Samson, challenges Samson but fails. Then an officer
comes to order Samson to provide amusement for the Philistine lords, who are
celebrating a feast on honor of their heathen god Dagon. In the place of
celebrating, Samson pulls down the pillars that support the roof and kills
all his enemies as well as himself.
This tragedy is like the autobiography of Milton, because
Samson experiences what Milton suffered, such as, unwise marriage,
blindness, failure, depression and trap by enemies, and also is full of
Milton’s irresistible fighting spirit. Samson’s lamentation over his
blindness is the right voice of Milton to himself.
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon;
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
Without all hope of day!
…
The sun to me is dark
And silent as the moon, when she deserts the night
Hid in her vacant interlunar cave.
…
As in the land of darkness, ye in light,
To live a life half dead, a living death,
And buried; but O yet more miserable!
The whole tragedy consists of 1758 lines without division of
acts. With the employment of chorus, the messenger, little description of
external action but much of internal conflict, the drama is solemn and
stirring, which also exactly fits the thoughts and moods of Milton.
In writing Samson Agonistes Milton deliberately
patterned after ancient Greek models, adhered strictly to the unities of
time, place, and action, employed chorus and messenger, expressed an
undeviating tragic tone and exalted language. At the same time Aristotelian
concept of catharsis was purposely introduced: pity and fear aroused are a
purgative for unwholesome passions. Concluding chorus explicitly illustrates
this purpose. Tragic flaw (overconfidence) of Greeks is applied to Samson,
but Milton's insistence on Divine Providence instead of Blind Fate ruling
men's lives requires a Christian rather than a pagan interpretation.
Milton, a Christian humanist, attempts to synthesize classic,
Hebraic, and Christian traditions. The autobiographical element is obvious.
Like the blind Samson, Milton had thrown himself into a national effort [the
Commonwealth], only to witness his own devastating loss and the triumph of a
culture he detested [when Charles II was restored to the throne]. Recovering
from previous despair, Samson is subjected to two temptations: (1) to blame
God for his blindness and slavery, and (2) to seek to decide his own fate.
In the end, God's purpose is revealed, and Samson triumphantly and
righteously proceeds to his divinely ordained destiny. Though undivided, the
drama unfolds in five sections or acts, patterned after the Greek tragedy.
4 Features of Style
4.1. Milton wrote many different types of verse, such as, sonnets, lyrics,
elegies, epics, masques, and verse tragedies. Milton is especially a great
master of blank verse. He is the first who used blank verse in non-dramatic
works. He also learned a lot from Shakespeare whose verse pattern is
different from his, that is, while everybody is a potential audience of
Shakespeare only the intellectual cultivated will love Milton.
4.2. Milton is a progressive and prominent figure both in politics and arts.
He persistently fought for freedom against tyranny in all fields of human
activity: political, social and religious. His poignant thought and fiery
ideas are usually expressed with powerful language and vivid characters,
such as Satan and Samson.
4.3.His Puritanism and his republicanism are the most essential ideas in his
mind, which can be found in all his works of importance. During the
Republican Age, Milton’s forceful pamphlets advocated and supported
Commonwealth. In the Restoration Period, he also showed his firm and
rebellious spirit in his great works.
4.4.Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for
its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and
biblical study. But his style is never exactly natural. It is restrained by
definite and obvious rhetorical devices.
4.5.Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty
of expression. But the study of Milton is not and easy job for beginners of
literature because of his long sentences and complicated grammatical
construction. In order to appreciate Milton to the fullest, it is also
necessary to know and understand the biblical stories that he often referred
to.
Milton’s learning and education are greater than that of any other English
poet on record. No matter in the field of poetry or prose, Milton got more
achievement than all other English writers of his time both in his
revolutionary and humanist views and artistic skills. He has greatly
influenced the later poets, including Dryden, Pope, Gray, Wordsworth,
Shelley, Tennyson, etc.
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