Résumés
Abstract
Encouraged by the recent renewal of interest in the relationship between Milton and Shakespeare, this essay focuses on that relationship in the light of the tension between the literalism of sola scriptura in reformed religion, on the one hand, and the countervailing insistence on imitation as the route to originality and individual agency in the studia humanitatis, on the other. This tension is central to all Milton’s thinking; at its core is the question, “How are we to reconcile God’s freedom with our own?” While God’s freedom is absolute, we are nothing more than puppets “in the motions” unless we find a way to define the contingency of our own. Milton is intoxicated with the majesty of God’s freedom but equally haunted by the memory of our own original freedom: “No man who knows ought, can be so stupid [as] to deny that all men naturally were borne free, being the image and likeness of God himself.” By concentrating on Milton’s representation of Shakespeare in his “Epitaph” on Shakespeare (1632) and Eikonoklastes (1649), my argument is that not only is Milton’s engagement with Shakespeare ongoing but that it allows us peculiar insight into the poet’s conflicted desire both to create enhanced space for human agency and to critique its overestimation, especially in the idealization of political virtù.
Keywords:
- Milton,
- Shakespeare,
- Eikonoklastes,
- Richard III,
- Imitation,
- Originality,
- Virtù
Résumé
Encouragé par le récent renouvellement d’intérêt pour la relation entre Milton et Shakespeare, cet article s’intéresse à cette relation à la lumière, d’une part, de la tension entre le littéralisme de la sola scriptura dans la religion réformée et, d’autre part, de l’insistance compensatrice sur l’imitation comme voie vers l’originalité et la capacité de l’individu à agir dans les studia humanitatis. Cette tension est essentielle dans la pensée de Milton dans son ensemble : en son centre repose la question « comment concilier la liberté de Dieu avec la nôtre ? ». Alors que la liberté de Dieu est absolue, nous ne sommes rien de plus que des marionnettes agissantes, à moins que nous ne trouvions un moyen de définir notre propre liberté. Milton est enivré par la majesté de la liberté divine, mais tout aussi hanté par la mémoire de notre liberté originelle : « Même le plus ignorant des hommes ne peut être assez stupide pour nier que tout homme naît naturellement libre, étant à l’image et à la ressemblance de Dieu lui-même ». En nous concentrant sur les représentations de Shakespeare dans l’« Épitaphe » de Shakespeare (1632) et l’Eikonoklastes (1649), nous souhaitons non seulement montrer que le lien de Milton avec Shakespeare est continu, mais encore qu’il nous donne un aperçu du désir conflictuel du poète de créer un espace de mise en valeur de la capacité de l’homme à agir et de critiquer la surestimation de celle-ci, en particulier dans l’idéalisation de la virtù politique.
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