“With Inward Eyes Illuminated”: The Different Types of Love in Samson Agonistes

Abstract

Critics usually regard Milton's Samson Agonistes as a study in regeneration; Samson is representative of humanity and he feels lost and defeated when his faith in God, i.e. his true love flickers, but he is regenerated when he eventually manages to turn from himself to the eternal source of Truth & Beauty, i.e. God. On his way to accomplish renovation and regeneration, Samson undergoes a process of spiritual rebirth. What is of utmost significance about his spiritual development besides his having free will in making his right and wrong choices, is the way he treats & is treated by different types of love throughout his quest for attaining union with absolute Beauty and Truth. This study intends to penetrate into different types of love Samson encounters through his spiritual rebirth in the light of the concepts expressed in Plato’s “The Symposium”.