Reading Genesis in the Long Eighteenth Century: From Milton to Mary Shelley

by Acosta,Ana M.

• ISBN13: 9780754656135
• ISBN10: 0754656136
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In a reassessment of the long-accepted division between religion and enlightenment, Ana Acosta here traces a tissue of readings and adaptations of Genesis and Scriptural language from Milton through Rousseau to Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley. Acosta's interdisciplinary approach places these writers in the broader context of eighteenth-century political theory, biblical criticism, religious studies and utopianism.Acosta's argument is twofold: she establishes the importance of Genesis within utopian thinking, in particular the influential models of Milton and Rousseau; and she demonstrates that the power of these models can be explained neither by traditional religious paradigms nor by those of religion or philosophy. In establishing the relationship between biblical criticism and republican utopias, Acosta makes a solid case that important utopian visions are better understood against the background of Genesis interpretation. This study opens a new perspective on theories of secularization, and as such will interest scholars of religious studies, intellectual history, and philosophy as well as of literary studies.

Author Biography

Ana M. Acosta is Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction: West of Eden

Origin is the goal: Genesis in the 18th century

Dr Milton's guide; or, the Utopia within

The passion of Jean-Jacques Rousseau; or, The Dystopia within

Wollstonecraft's body politics; or, philosophy in the bedroom

Frankenstein; or, L'Education des habitants d'une petite ville au pied des alpes

Bibliography

Index

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