Nov 18, 2008

Samson Agonistes | Samson Agonistes

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]

Samson Agonistes | Samson Agonistes

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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