Date of Award
8-1-2023
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Netzley, Ryan
Abstract
This thesis project examines the theology of despair through two texts of the English Restoration, John Bunyan’s 1666 Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and John Milton’s 1671 Samson Agonistes. It interrogates the spiritually regenerative properties of autobiographical introspection and the role that scriptural analogies play to that end. Where Bunyan’s exercise yields an educative model for readers to follow, Milton’s cautions against the imitability of autobiographical despair.
Access
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