Description:
Using a framework based on J. L. Austin's understanding of performative speech and Angela Esterhammer's work on how things are done with words in Milton's and Blake's poetry, this study provides an extended close reading of the speech acts of characters in Blake's epic poem Milton.
Review Quotes:
"Brian Russell Graham expertly examines Milton a Poem through a close reading that engages with performative speech act theory, using it to demonstrate the importance of the characters' spoken lines and also to explain how the lack of any direct speech can help to bring about, or forestall, the impending apocalypse... Graham presents a dense and invigorative argument that needs to be followed both carefully and slowly. Readers who are interested in either Milton or performative speech acts will find it a perfect example of how to do a very thorough analysis of Blake's poem"
--Annise Rogers, Blake /An Ilustrated Quarterly