Milton's Postures: Prostrating, Grinding, Leaning

Abstract:Throughout John Milton's dramatic poem Samson Agonistes, the postures of the body allow individual characters to overcome the faltering capacities of speech, mind, and spirit. Early in the play, prostrating affords Samson the opportunity to make sense of his fractured and traumatized mental condition. Through the posture of grinding, the play conceives of a "sensate community," by which Dalila and Samson can achieve a shared, if fleeting, understanding of each other. Samson's leaning against the pillars, as summarized by a passerby, is a sophisticated model of spiritual identity that rejects the ableist assumption of any individual's physical or visual autonomy. In conclusion, this essay turns to the aesthetic and moral implications for Milton of "tugging" the pillars down in the play's final sequence of violence.