This new guide leads readers through the complexities of the text with detailed commentary on core sections of the poem, as well as a range of interpretative frameworks and contexts.

Reading Guides to Long Poems Series Editors: Isobel Armstrong & Sally Bushell The series enables readers to re-engage with the long poem as a vital form. Volumes provide generous extracts, or in some cases complete poems, from significant works combined with a reading guide and teaching tips from enthusiastic lecturers who have taught the poem. A hands-on guide to this famous epic poem Noam Reisner leads readers through the complexities of Milton's celebrated and challenging narrative poem as well as introducing them to the key critical views. The guide combines an introduction to the poem's main thematic and stylistic concerns together with discussion of important selected passages (substantial extracts from the text are included) and provides readers with a basic set of critical tools with which to interpret the text. Key Features * Detailed discussion of select passages from the poem divided into three interrelated sections - 'concepts and themes', 'style and form' and 'historical-political context' - for easy reference * Provides a general guide to teaching the text - first time teachers will find many suggestions for teaching as well as templates for teaching the poem in different course formats. * Up-to-date annotated bibliography Noam Reisner is a Lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at Tel Aviv University.