밀턴의 『투사 삼손』 읽기: 구원인가, 복수의 완성인가?
Reading Milton's Samson Agonistes: Is it Salvation or the Completion of Revenge?
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In Samson Agonistes(1671) John Milton focuses on the last critical moments of Samson's life. In this study, I try to answer the question “Does Milton ultimately embody Samson's salvation or the completion of divine revenge?” in Samson Agonistes. To achieve this I’ll show that Milton rewrites the biblical Samson story as a tragedy with a Christian perspective by means of dramatizing Samson's spiritual sufferings and growth. Milton's Samson has a psychological depth that is hard to find in the biblical Samson story. At the beginning of the play, blinded and imprisoned Samson abandons himself to despair. However, through his successful struggles with tempters such as Chorus, Manoa, Dalila and Harapha and also through ‘rousing divine motions’ in him, Samson finally revenges himself on both the Philistines and their false god Dagon in self-destructive violence. Samson Agonistes is seemingly a play in which almost nothing happens except Samson's final act. But Milton makes Samson's struggles internal and so most of things happen inside Samson. While some critics say Samson, as an instrument of Providence, dramatizes the completion of divine revenge in the end, others say he eventually reaches salvation through his victory over temptations and painful despair. If we put any one perspective upon Samson Agonistes, it ought to seem the partial and incomplete understanding of the play. Therefore, it is a convincing explanation that Samson finally responds God's purposes with his free will.
Abstract
In Samson Agonistes(1671) John Milton focuses on the last critical moments of Samson's life. In this study, I try to answer the question “Does Milton ultimately embody Samson's salvation or the completion of divine revenge?” in Samson Agonistes. To achieve this I’ll show that Milton rewrites the biblical Samson story as a tragedy with a Christian perspective by means of dramatizing Samson's spiritual sufferings and growth. Milton's Samson has a psychological depth that is hard to find in the biblical Samson story. At the beginning of the play, blinded and imprisoned Samson abandons himself to despair. However, through his successful struggles with tempters such as Chorus, Manoa, Dalila and Harapha and also through ‘rousing divine motions’ in him, Samson finally revenges himself on both the Philistines and their false god Dagon in self-destructive violence. Samson Agonistes is seemingly a play in which almost nothing happens except Samson's final act. But Milton makes Samson's struggles internal and so most of things happen inside Samson. While some critics say Samson, as an instrument of Providence, dramatizes the completion of divine revenge in the end, others say he eventually reaches salvation through his victory over temptations and painful despair. If we put any one perspective upon Samson Agonistes, it ought to seem the partial and incomplete understanding of the play. Therefore, it is a convincing explanation that Samson finally responds God's purposes with his free will.
참고문헌 (19)
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