Book overview
New Essays on John Milton and Lucy Hutchinson: "More Equal" challenges the myth of Milton as a solitary genius, instead suggesting that scholarly work on early modern women's writing and their collaborations and contexts can be usefully applied to Milton. By bringing essays about Milton and about Lucy Hutchinson together, the collection suggests that studying each author's works within the context of the other can further interpretative possibilities. The collection as a whole argues that the roles women played in seventeenth-century England deserve more attention within literary readings of authors of the period, and asserts the value of understanding the writing of authors like Milton within the context of those women and their work. Featuring an essay by foremost Hutchinson scholar David Norbrook, which conjoins the two authors and considers them in relation to one another, this volume offers a fresh understanding of both Milton and Hutchinson's writings and beliefs.
The volume's contributors represent a range of scholars and techniques, and their work represents an expansion of work presented at the Conference on John Milton. Past volumes drawing from that conference series have been recognized for their significance to Milton studies, receiving the Society's Irene Samuel Award for distinguished multiauthor collection on Milton, including Locating Milton (Clemson UP, 2021), co-edited by this volume's editors, Festa and Ainsworth. As with those past volumes, contributors represent a range from distinguished senior scholars to graduate students.