Milton, Anna Letitia Barbauld, and Anne Grant in the Eighteen Hundreds Justin Stevenson
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Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Summer 2015 Sin, History, and Liberty: Milton, Anna Letitia Barbauld, and Anne Grant in the Eighteen Hundreds Justin Stevenson Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Stevenson, J. (2015). Sin, History, and Liberty: Milton, Anna Letitia Barbauld, and Anne Grant in the Eighteen Hundreds (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1238 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SIN, HISTORY, AND LIBERTY: MILTON, ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD, AND ANNE GRANT IN THE EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Justin J. Stevenson August 2015 Copyright by Justin J. Stevenson 2015 ii SIN, HISTORY, AND LIBERTY: MILTON, ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD, AND ANNE GRANT IN THE EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS By Justin J. Stevenson Approved July 14, 2015 ________________________________________ Susan K. Howard, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English (Committee Chair) ________________________________________ Laura Engel, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English (Committee Member) ________________________________________ Danielle A. St. Hilaire, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of English (Committee Member) ________________________________________ Greg Barnhisel, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English Chair, English Department ________________________________________ James P. Swindal, Ph.D. Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT SIN, HISTORY, AND LIBERTY: MILTON, ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD, AND ANNE GRANT IN THE EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS By Justin J. Stevenson August 2015 Dissertation supervised by Susan K. Howard, Ph.D. My study examines the relationship between Anna Letitia Barbauld’s Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, A Poem and Anne Grant’s Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen, A Poem as well as Milton’s presence in both texts. I argue that Grant does not merely offer a conservative counter to Barbauld’s liberal condemnation of English politics during England’s military engagement with Napoleonic France; rather, Grant provides a nuanced and balanced response to Barbauld in which Grant both acknowledges the faults of England and defends England as the source of liberty. Between these two positions is Milton, a towering cultural figure in England. Milton is not only a critic of English politics iv but also a champion of liberty. Thus, politically and poetically, Milton is the link between Barbauld’s and Grant’s prophetic poems. In the first section of my study, I sketch Milton’s Augustinian theology and politics with particular attention given to the Judeo-Christian paradigm of sin in Paradise Lost; I also chart his position within England’s history and culture from the time of Milton through the period of Barbauld and Grant. In my second chapter, I examine Barbauld’s religion and politics and how they are manifested in her poem, a poem that positions England as a fallen nation with no hope for regeneration. Finally, I examine Grant’s theology and politics via her poetic response to Barbauld; Grant adopts Milton in her positioning of England as the fallen Christian hero and torch of liberty for the world. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I thank all of my teachers. My teachers have always been my role models, and all of my teachers have made me who I am today. Among my many teachers, I first wish to thank Dr. Dan Watkins who first introduced me to Anne Grant’s poem and encouraged me to pursue this line of enquiry; his direction through the earliest stages of this project and guidance in narrowing the scope of my study were invaluable. I also thank Dr. Susan Howard who has shown great patience and given me much support through her constant feedback and guidance. She has read and commented on my many drafts; her generosity and expertise prompted me to reorganize and make more concrete my arguments. Likewise, I thank Dr. Danielle St. Hilaire for her expertise in all matters Milton and for making me rethink and sharpen my perspective on the blind bard. Dr. Laura Engel has not only been a careful reader but also an invaluable and kind guide throughout the process of this project. I must also offer my gratitude to both Dr. Greg Barnhisel and Dr. James Swindall for their understanding and gift of time, without which this project and my studies would have come to an abrupt end. I also acknowledge Mr. G. Scott Procko, a vi colleague at Geibel Catholic, who generously provided a fresh set of keen eyes in proofing the final manuscript. I thank Nora McBurney and Linda Rendulic, too, for all of their guidance and assistance through the final clerical stages. I thank all of you for your patience, generosity, and expertise. Humbly, I have learned much from each of you. Most importantly, I must thank my longest-tenured teachers: my family. I thank my parents who were and continue to be my first instructors; without their never- ending support (both moral and practical), none of this could have been possible. I thank you both for everything. I also thank my wife and children. I appreciate that my wife, Melissa, and our children (Caelen, Maia, Eahn, and Conel) understood and were willing to share me when I retreated to the den to do “Daddie’s Duquesne work.” All of you are responsible for whatever virtues I or my project may claim. For those, I cannot thank you enough. Of course, whatever faults within me or my work are entirely my resposibilty. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT . iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . vi INTRODUCTION . ix CHAPTER ONE: Milton’s Religion, Politics, and Authority 1 Milton’s Religion and Politics: A Man Unto Himself 2 Milton’s Authority: A Man for the Ages . 25 Conclusion . 47 CHAPTER TWO: Anna Letitia Barbauld: Theology, Politics, and Prophecy . 49 Anna Letitia Barbauld’s Religion and Politics: Look But Don’t Touch . 53 Barbauld’s Eighteen Hundred and Eleven: England’s Unhappy Fault . 66 Verse and Form . 66 The Fall: History and Liberty . 82 Regeneration . 120 Conclusion . 141 CHAPTER THREE: Anne Grant’s Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen: England and Rekindling the Torch of Liberty . 146 England’s Salvation History: Paradise Lost and Regained, or England Agonistes . 150 Grant’s Form and Style . 171 Grant’s Miltonic Images: Light, Unity, Messiah . 181 Conclusion . 218 WORKS CONSULTED . 222 viii INTRODUCTION The seed for this project was planted in a graduate seminar on Regency writing when I was assigned the double- edged sword of an obtuse text, that text being Anne Grant’s Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen, A Poem.1 I say a double- edged sword because, on the negative side, secondary sources on the author were sparse, and substantive sources concerning the poem itself could not be found; I had no starting point other than the poem itself to begin my project. On the positive side, there was little written about the author and no scholarship on the poem; therefore, without a body of scholarship steering me in any one direction, my reading of the poem could really take me anywhere. Thus, since Grant’s text was critically uncharted territory, I saw engaging the poem both as a challenge and as an exciting prospect. Naturally, I bring my previous knowledge and experience with me to the text that shapes my interaction with the work. Reading Grant’s poem at the time was no different as I hurriedly read, took notes, and prepared for the next week’s class. So, upon reading the title, I 1 For the sake of brevity within parenthetical citations, I will use “1813” for Grant’s Eighteen Hundred and Thirteen, “1811” for Barbauld’s Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, and “PL” for Milton’s Paradise Lost. ix immediately noticed the nod to Anna Letitia Barbauld’s poem Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, A Poem, which immediately brought much to the context of Grant’s poem regarding England’s involvement in the Napoleonic wars and gave my critical lens an intertextual and historicist angle. Furthermore, as I do in much of my reading, I read through a Christian critical prism, particularly filtered through Genesis and the first stories of the Bible, particularly the stories of the creation and fall of humanity. Not only did the contexts of other literary works and events of the period help me as I worked through the text, but also the moment in which I lived, that present moment in history, influenced my reading, too. At the time, the attacks of September 11, 2001 were still fresh in the minds of every American, and the country was in the midst of war with Iraq. As it did for many Americans, the war impacted my family and me intimately in that my younger brother served in the Army; he was deployed as a part of the original campaign into Baghdad and removal of Saddham Hussein from power. (My brother would later serve a second tour, as well.) Therefore, I was keenly aware of the debate surrounding the United States’s military involvement in the Middle East, and I was emotionally affected by the news of the war on an almost hourly basis. x Therefore, with this thick lens of the horrific events of that Tuesday in September that prompted a war against those who terrorize and those who harbor terrorists, I could not help thinking of some of the language in England, and within Barbauld’s and Grant’s poems, concerning England’s war against Napoleon. On one side, France was seen as a source of terror and that Napoleon must be stopped as he invaded other countries for his own thirst for glory; thus, England was a defender of liberty who would pay the price in blood for the freedom of other countries and to be a source of liberty within the world.