The Uncertain World of Samson Agonistes. (Reviews).

John T. Shawcross, The Uncertain World of Samson Agonistes

Studies in Renaissance Literature, 6. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2001. [x] + 158 pp. ISBN: 0-85991-609-X.

As most readers will readily admit, John Milton's dramatic poem Samson Agonistes is a profoundly unsettling work. Its first appearance, in 1671, is distinguished by its curious status, as almost an afterthought on a title page announcing its companion text: "PARADISE/ REGAIN'D. / A/ POEM. / In IV BOOKS. / To which is added/ SAMSON AGONISTES." Its date of composition is undetermined, its purpose unclear. Moreover, current events have forced re-examination of the entire story: both the biblical and Miltonic versions focus on a religiously-motivated figure who, in the name of God, dies in the act of killing his people's enemies by destroying a public place.

John T. Shawcross' new book makes a significant contribution to all readers of the poem, especially to those whose careful readings of both text and criticism leave them as confused as ever about its meanings. Drawing on a career of distinguished Milton scholarship, Shawcross presents "an approach to the text that reifies both the world of the poem and the uncertainties of the world of the poem as not only reader-available but writer-created" (1). "Uncertainty," rather than the currently fashionable "indeterminacy," is the appropriate term because the poem constantly presents choices, but provides no clear map for preferring one choice to another. In nine chapters, covering a wide range of questions on subjects as diverse as textual study, biography, politics, literary genre, and characterization, and giving full attention to the variety of critical response, Shawcross argues that Milton's Samson shows readers "that a keeping of covenant, or a faithful adherence to God's teaching and law, regardless of seemin gly insurmountable barriers, will lead to God's sustenance and deliverance" (140). And that there will be no straight answers to our most profound questions while we exist within the world and within history. Uncertainty is the condition of our lives.

Each chapter shows how uncertainty pervades the chosen subject. In chapter two, for example, the subject is "Uncertainty and the Text." There is only one state of the text: that of the 1671 volume. Even that, however, presents numerous challenges, notably that of dating. The date of probable composition has everything to do with how we read the poem. The presence of errata, an "Omissa" sheet, some curious punctuation, and other problems render the text itself unstable, and several crucial passages unclear as to their meaning. Readers must therefore turn to the supposed context of the poem to determine meaning. But what is the context? As Shawcross explains, the "ambiguities of the text,.., offer an ending in the dramatic poem that sees a 1648-49 hopefulness in the defeat of the Royalists and the ascendancy of the Parliamentarians through the grace of God, previously hidden, descending on the adherents of Milton's Truth and leading to the new government, or an ending that sees a 1667-70 despair because deliver ance is not truly achieved through inaction, through reliance on God working alone, through the Violence that has not been freed from Truth and Right" (27). The solution may be to maintain both possibilities, positing an early composition and a late revision.

Ultimately, the uncertainties of the poem locate the most significant action in the readers. The poem itself offers no internal resolution. The Chorus may assert the existence of "calm of mind all passion spent," but readers familiar with their Bible know that Samson's actions and death do not lead to the deliverance of the Danites. Their oppression continues. The poem, Shawcross maintains, helps readers live in uncertainty by showing that choices, as such, may well be beside the point, that life frequently offers not "either/or" but "this and that" (107). The tragedy of the poem is that Samson -- and readers -- must act in uncertainty.

In keeping with its theme, the book itself is often difficult going. Shawcross resists the temptation to issue dogmatic declarations and comfortable solutions. His engagement with a wealth of Milton scholarship, including his own, encourages readers to judge for themselves and cultivate the willingness to entertain more than one acceptable solution. Readers looking for a bluffer's guide to Samson Agonistes will be frustrated and disappointed. Readers seeking a deeper understanding of Milton and his dramatic poem certainly will have their reward.