"Under Heaven's Eye: Milton and Theatrum Mundi, " examines the prominence of spectacle in John Milton's poetry. Although literary critics have acknowledged Milton's personal fondness for the stage, they have largely overlooked the degree to which this radical Protestant poet relied upon theater and theatrical themes in his writing. They have all too often fallen back on two standard binaries: the Catholic fondness and Puritan distaste for theatricality on the one hand, and the strict distinction between non-dramatic and dramatic texts on the other.

This project challenges such critical biases by excavating a specific topos in Milton's poetry: the topos of theatrum mundi or 'theater-of-the world.' I show that this trope surfaces with surprising persistence in four of Milton's major works: Comus, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. It is my contention that the idea of the world-as-stage, presided over by an active but invisible deity, structures Milton's conception of the relationship between humankind and God—the relationship that forms the principal focus of his writing. Figures like Samson and Satan, for example, recognize that they are under divine surveillance, and yet they are powerless to return the Spectator's gaze. This knowledge, I argue, affects the choices the characters make: it generates their agency and forms their actions. "Under Heaven's Eye" ultimately raises the question that is at the heart of Milton's enterprise: what does it mean to act in a world in which God is always watching?