Milton’s Christ and passive power in Melville and Turner

Gill explores the intermedial influence of John Milton on Herman Melville and J. M. W. Turner, arguing that the three figures are connected by a shared preoccupation with a form of power which arises from passivity. This passive power, which is related to Christian heroism, is manifest in the form of a vortex: an active other is kept in circular movement around a still, powerful centre. This chapter explores the presence of this Miltonic and vortical ‘refusing to work’ in the work of Melville and Turner, primarily in Melville’s Moby-Dick and ‘Bartleby the Scrivener’, and Turner’s late paintings. Gill extends our understanding of Milton’s influence on mid-nineteenth century culture, building conceptual connections which cross boundaries of genre, nationality, and period.