Theological dramatics: two case studies

John Milton and Aemelia Lanyer are poets, social critics, political commentators, and objects of study. They also function, in their narrations of Jesus Passion, as reflective and creative theologians. Analyzing Lanyers Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum in terms of contemporary feminist theology and Miltons Paradise Regained in terms of historical and contemporary Trinitarian debates, this thesis attempts to locate the art of theological poetry in a larger, dramatic framework. After setting up the investigation in dramatic categories and analyzing the two Jesus-poems, the thesis goes on to investigate literary criticism as a practice and to locate criticism and critics within the larger theological drama.