Hello and welcome to the Discourse. In 1671, John Milton published two of his works titled Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.
Paradise Regained was a further telling of his successful epic Paradise Lost. Paradise Regained has four volumes and in each volume, Satan continuously tries to tempt Christ and cause his fall but fails.
Paradise Regained was published along with Samson Agonistes (Samson the Champion). Like Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes is also a biblical allegory. It is a tragic closet drama written in blank verses. A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed on stage but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a small group or chorus. On the title page of Samson Agonistes, Milton wrote that it is a ‘Dramatic Poem’ rather than a drama. Samson Agonistes proves the versatility of John Milton. His Lycidas is considered one of the finest elegies ever written, Paradise Lost is certainly one of the best English epics and Samson Agonistes is a fine example of Aristotelian tragedy.
Characters: Samson is the son of Manoa, an Israelite who prayed a lot to get a son. Samson is a God gifted son who has superhuman powers that reside in the seven locks of his hair. Samson was advised by God not to reveal the nature of his powers to anyone. Dalila is a Philistine woman who seduces Samson and marries him. Dalila is actually a stooge planted by the Philistine people to find out the reason for Samson’s excessive powers and a way to defeat him. Samson tries to hide the secret of his powers but ultimately, he once shares his secret with his wife. Dalila then cares for him and makes him sleep in her lap. While he was sleeping, Dalila calls a barber to remove his hair and thus, weakening him. Later on, Samson is captured and imprisoned by Philistine people who take his eyes out and treat him as a slave in Gaza (Milton describes Samson as “Eyeless in Gaza”. Harapha of Gath is a giant who had heard a lot about the power and bravery of Samson. He visits him in the prison and pities him. He refuses to fight against Samson as he believes that Samson is now too weak and it will bring no honor to him. Public Officer of Philistine orders Samson to visit the Philistine temple and greet Philistinian God. The Chorus is a group of people who like in ancient Greek dramas explain and expresses their views about the actions of the main drama.
Summary: The original Samson is a hero of Israelite folklores. Milton turned him into a good Christian to tell his story. The story begins as Samson laments at his current state and how he was imprisoned and blinded by his enemies. He says that he was the person who was supposed to save Israelites against the tyranny of the Philistine people. However, now he is imprisoned, blinded, and a slave to the same people whom he was supposed to defeat.
Samson is too depressed as he discusses his blindness and says that God first created light and now when he is blind and cannot see or feel God’s light, he feels Godless. He feels as if he doesn’t exist or as if he is like a serpent or an animal who can never feel the glory of God again. Samson is so depressed that he feels like a walking grave. While Samson is lamenting in his monologue, he hears some footsteps. The chorus appears and they discuss how the mighty Samson who could kill lions with his bare hands is now blind and helpless. The chorus tells him that he should not blame God for his pitiful state as it was his own fault. The chorus says that he didn’t listen to God and shared his secret with Dalila, he married a girl, not from Israel. Samson agrees that it was his own fault and then the chorus announces that Manoa is coming to see Samson.
Manoa fails to recognize his son but the chorus points him out. Manoa is shocked by his son’s condition. He laments that Samson was a perfect child, so strong, blessed by God only to suffer this deplorable state. He says that God is too harsh to him.
Samson soothes his father and says that he should not blame God for his failures. He tells Manoa that he was also betrayed by his first wife. He criticizes women in general for their betrayal. Manoa says that the Philistine people will tell everyone how they overpowered Samson as they are preparing for a big celebration at their temple. Samson feels pain as he thinks that now the Philistine God will be worshipped more than the true God. His father says that he will take Samson out to safety but Samson refuses and says that he has no desire to live further. Manoa goes away as Samson continues to lament how lonely he feels.
Dalila visits Samson and she is very sad for him. She feels guilty and asks for his forgiveness. Samson says that he has forgiven her. Dalila tries to touch his hand but he refuses to believe her again and says that she is only a manipulative woman who cannot feel any love or remorse. He says that he has forgiven her only till she stays away and if she tries to come near him again, he will kill her. Dalila says that she betrayed her only for love as she believed that once his powers are gone, he will become her slave and will always stay with her. She tells him that she will ask the government to forgive him and let him live with her in peace as she will tender and care for her but he sternly refuses. As Dalila realizes that Samson will never forgive her, she goes away.
Next comes Harapha of Gath. He mocks Samson and says that he wanted to fight against him when Samson was in his prime. But now when Samson is blind and has no energy left, he doesn’t want to fight. Samson challenges him and asks him to fight but Harapha refuses. Samson derides him and calls him a coward but Harapha ignores him and goes away.
After some time, a public officer comes to Samson and says that he will have to go to the temple of Philistine in the honor of their God. At first, Samson refuses as he feels it will offend his true God. But then he realizes that he must be there and agrees. Samson leaves with the public officer to their temple.
Later on, the chorus describes the events that happened at the temple and how Samson broke the pillars of the temple where all the three thousand Philistines were gathered together for the celebration. The chorus reveals that as the temple fell, Samson and all his enemies died together violently.
As Manoa returns, the chorus tells him about what happened. The chorus says that Samson killed every Philistine by bringing the building down but that also killed him. Manoa tells himself that his son did the right thing while the chorus thinks that there may have been a better way.
Themes: Violence is one of the major themes of Samson Agonises. Samson plans a mass murder-suicide as he kills civilian religious people attending a religious feast. Milton has extolled and praised all this in his poetic drama. Another important theme is a betrayal by women. The play centers around the betrayal of Samson at the hands of Dalila. Milton suggests that women and men’s desire for women is connected to idolatry against God and there can be nothing sacred within the bonds of marital love. Milton portrays the negative effect of love. Samson was holy and strong but desirous of Dalila and hence he shared his secret with her and hence disobeyed God. As a result, he was emasculated.
Blindness is also a major theme of this play. Milton was completely blind by the time he finished this job. He portrays Samson as ‘Eyeless in Gaza’ and expresses his own feelings about blindness through Samson. However, Samson’s blindness is much more. Samson got blinded by his sexual desires. Samson got blinded by Dalila’s feminine wiles.
Milton refined the character of Biblical Samson for his play. Biblical Samson is an egocentric, insensitive bully, he is neither morally correct nor intelligent. However, Milton turned him into a thoughtful person and compared him to a seventeenth-century Puritan.
So this is it about Samson Agonistes. We have covered most of the works by John Milton. L'Allegro and Il Penseroso are his companion poems written in octasyllabic couplets. Lycidas was a pastoral ellegy. Comus is a masque written by Milton, On His Blindness was a sonnet by Milton and Aeropagitica is a prose tract.
We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
No comments:
Post a Comment