When Roth reads Milton : The fall between Paradise Lost and American Pastoral

Book chapter


Currell, David. (2017). When Roth reads Milton : The fall between Paradise Lost and American Pastoral. In In Hadromi-Allouche, Zohar and Larkin, Áine (Ed.). Fall narratives : An interdisciplinary perspective pp. 137-150 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315581880
AuthorsCurrell, David
EditorsHadromi-Allouche, Zohar and Larkin, Áine
Abstract

The recomposition of Paradise Lost across American Pastoral is not a mechanical rehearsal or reauthorisation (to invoke a Miltonic idea, Roth will be no ‘heretic in the truth’), but a testing and even a correction against the authority of new and different histories. 4 Moreover, the nature of American Pastoral ’s intertextuality itself depends upon thematic concerns subtending both narratives. ‘Authority’, ‘obedience’, ‘test’ and ‘fall’ are the common keywords governing both the form and the content of the textual negotiation between Roth and Milton, and the dramatic negotiations among the Levovs. I will argue that this complex dynamic demands an account of intertextuality that goes beyond familiar tropes of capital investment or filial competition.

Page range137-150
Year2017
Book titleFall narratives : An interdisciplinary perspective
PublisherRoutledge
Place of publicationLondon, United Kingdom
New York, New York
ISBN9781472483720
9781315581880
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315581880
Web address (URL)https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315581880-20/roth-reads-milton-fall-paradise-lost-american-pastoral-david-currell
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All rights reserved
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Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online01 Dec 2016
Print2017
Publication process dates
Deposited19 Jun 2025
Additional information

© 2017 selection and editorial matter, Zohar Hadromi-Allouche and Áine Larkin; individual chapters, the contributors.

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Currell, David. (2024). Reading John Milton : An introduction Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003267041