Milton's Inward Liberty

In his authoritative volume, Filippo Falcone traces the concept of Christian liberty in Milton's work, from the early prose tracts to the literary and theological complexities of Paradise Lost. Traditional liberalist readings of Milton have seen his tireless defence of liberty in all areas of social and political life during the years of England's Interregnum as the result of a conception of individual liberty as only fully definable within the context of public liberties. Milton's Inward Liberty offers a powerful reassessment of such readings, arguing that true individual liberty is more appropriately defined in Milton as an inward, Christian liberty. Through detailed textual analysis of Milton's writings and the works of Scripture that influenced them, Filippo Falcone explores how this spiritual investment in inward liberty impacted Milton's poetic style, and his understanding of the nature of marriage and the civil community. Milton's Inward Liberty is a work of specialised Christian scholarship that offers illuminating insights into Milton's theology of freedom, and the complex political and theological implications surrounding the word 'liberty' in the literary, religious and political culture of Reformation England. It will appeal to students and scholars of Milton, and to those interested in literature and religious discourse.