<i>Comus</i>: Milton’s Lady Victorious

Abstract

In John Milton’s Comus, a lady of spirited nature is depicted as one who overcomes the evil seductions of the scoundrel Comus, hence representing the inviolate maiden. This paper will examine the masque by critically discussing how John Milton subverts prevailing contemporary gender conventions in Comus. In positing The Lady as a strong, morally upright character, Milton thus refutes charges of misogyny frequently leveled at him, especially liable in the light of the more conflicted Eve in Paradise Lost. Milton’s Comus, written at age 26, indicates how early in his life he began to question tradition and confirms his attitudes toward the female gender.