Debate as an Introspective Vehicle for Self-Discovery in Samson Agonistes
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One feature that particularly stands out when reading Milton's major poems is the abundance of "dialogues," "disputations," or "dramatized debates" between the main characters. Indeed, debates of one form or another can be found in much of his writing such as the debate between Comus and the Lady, Samson and Dalila as well as those between Satan and the Son in Paradise Regained. The abundance of debates in Milton’s major works may hardly be surprising considering the polemical nature of education Milton was exposed to at Cambridge with its emphasis on classical rhetoric and academic disputations. The traditions of a Cambridge disputation, within which Milton was educated, was based on refutation (refutatio), the intellectual perspective of exercising one’s wisdom against the fallacies of a supposed or conveniently created opponent. In such a system, the sole purpose of the speaker is "winning the good-will of his audience." As William Riley Parker points out, "conviction was irrelevant" as were "reason and common sense." Looking back upon his Cambridge years, however, Milton tended to view such an education to be symptomatic of an "epidemic evil of that time." Dissatisfied with what he calls a "monkish and miserable sophistry," Milton, as is often the case, is thus quick to adapt and modify the traditional model for his own purpose. Thus, in the various debates within his works, debate, rather than being a futile exercise in "useless controversies,"is transformed into a tool for introspection and self-discovery. The debate within Samson Agonistes is a good case in point. As noted by Radzinowics, the "action of Samson Agonistes is composed of encounters, which as debates, are metaphors or metonymies for serious inward change." At the outset of the poem, Samson appears tormented by "restless thoughts"and suffering from "swoonings of despair, / And sense of heaven’s desertion." Through a series of debates with three different opponents, however, Samson reaches a far greater depth of introspection and self-discovery so that at the conclusion of the poem, Samson is a regenerate hero who is at peace with himself and his role as the instrument of divine providence once more. Thus, in the dramatized debate between Samson and Manoa and Dalila, Milton offers an alternate possibility of the debate as a means of arriving at "Truth" and self- discovery.
Abstract
One feature that particularly stands out when reading Milton's major poems is the abundance of "dialogues," "disputations," or "dramatized debates" between the main characters. Indeed, debates of one form or another can be found in much of his writing such as the debate between Comus and the Lady, Samson and Dalila as well as those between Satan and the Son in Paradise Regained. The abundance of debates in Milton’s major works may hardly be surprising considering the polemical nature of education Milton was exposed to at Cambridge with its emphasis on classical rhetoric and academic disputations. The traditions of a Cambridge disputation, within which Milton was educated, was based on refutation (refutatio), the intellectual perspective of exercising one’s wisdom against the fallacies of a supposed or conveniently created opponent. In such a system, the sole purpose of the speaker is "winning the good-will of his audience." As William Riley Parker points out, "conviction was irrelevant" as were "reason and common sense." Looking back upon his Cambridge years, however, Milton tended to view such an education to be symptomatic of an "epidemic evil of that time." Dissatisfied with what he calls a "monkish and miserable sophistry," Milton, as is often the case, is thus quick to adapt and modify the traditional model for his own purpose. Thus, in the various debates within his works, debate, rather than being a futile exercise in "useless controversies,"is transformed into a tool for introspection and self-discovery. The debate within Samson Agonistes is a good case in point. As noted by Radzinowics, the "action of Samson Agonistes is composed of encounters, which as debates, are metaphors or metonymies for serious inward change." At the outset of the poem, Samson appears tormented by "restless thoughts"and suffering from "swoonings of despair, / And sense of heaven’s desertion." Through a series of debates with three different opponents, however, Samson reaches a far greater depth of introspection and self-discovery so that at the conclusion of the poem, Samson is a regenerate hero who is at peace with himself and his role as the instrument of divine providence once more. Thus, in the dramatized debate between Samson and Manoa and Dalila, Milton offers an alternate possibility of the debate as a means of arriving at "Truth" and self- discovery.
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