Samson Agonistes (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: John Milton
- First Published: 1671
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Tragedy
- Time of Work: c. 1100
- Setting: Palestine
- Genres: Drama, Tragedy
- Subjects: Freedom, Suffering, Blindness or blind persons, Faith, Depression, mental, Biblical times, Heroes or heroism, Israel or Israelis, Middle East, Twelfth century, Festivals
- Locales: Palestine
Characters Discussed
Samson, the great Hebrew champion, who has been blinded and imprisoned by the Philistines. When the Chorus first greets him, he is deeply depressed, for he feels that he has betrayed God and himself by his own weakness. His successful resistance of Dalila’s temptations and his defiance of Harapha’s taunts restore his sense that he has a mission to perform. He goes to the Philistines’ feast in honor of their god, Dagon, with strong consciousness that he will find there a task to do in God’s service, and he “quit[s] himself like Samson” by pulling...
[The entire page is 542 words long]
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