ENG LIT: Paradise Lost AO3

What type of literature is PL?

An Epic Poem

What are the typical features of an Epic?

• Characters go on a journey

• Epic hero faces a challenge

• Tends to begin with the hero

• Has an epic villain

• Has muses

How does Milton deviate from the expectations of an Epic?

• Begins his work with Satan

• While most epics are concerned with war, Milton argues his epic is more heroic as it deals with “man’s first disobedience”

• There is no epic battle as Satan fears Adam as the epic hero

• Instead of desiring immortality Adam fears it

• Uses a heavenly muse

When was Paradise Lost published? Why is it significant?

• 1667, during the Restoration period

• Milton has been an advocate of the Republic and opposed ideas of divine right

• Charles II represented the return of this

What religion was Milton?

A Puritan

What was said in Milton’s anti-prelatical tracts 1641-42?

• They were very Puritan

• A call for the suppression of the Catholic idolatry that he and other Presbyterian’s felt was present in the CoE

• He thought bishops were a threat to England and the King

What influence did Milton’s antiprelactical tracts have on his own poetic writing?

• His use of rhetoric in the tracts can be seen in the rhetoric of Satan as he tries to convince Eve to sin against God

• Could be used as evidence to support Blake’s idea of him being “of the Devil’s party”

What did Milton write about divorce?

• Wrote a petition in favour of divorce following his marriage to Mary powell

• Argued for the ability to divorce on the grounds of incompatibility not just adultery

What did Milton write as a result of government’s attempt to suppress his ideas?

• Areopagitica 1644

• It rejected censorship

• Also promoted freedom of the individual and argued against blind faith

What was Milton’s opinion on the monarchy following the regicide 1649?

• Published a pamphlet in direct opposition to Hobbes’ “The Leviathan”

• Said Monarchical power is not absolute and they have to rule in accordance with a social contract held with the people

• If monarch abuses it, the people can remove him

What happened to Milton in the 1650s?

• Went blind

• May explain the emphasis on the scents of Eden and of Death in Books 9 & 10

What did Puritanism emphasise?

• The priesthood of all believers

• All people should be educated and enabled to understand God’s message

How did the Civil War impact Milton and his work?

• Was a result of religious tensions between parliament and king

• Parliamentarians (Puritans) saw the Royalists and bishops of the church of England as being on the side of evil

• Is perhaps reflected in the conflict discussed between Sin and Death in Book 10 - “beast on beast ‘gan war”

How did Milton use the Bible across his works?

• He dramatises it across many of his works including Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes

• Takes images and phrases from the Bible

• Also uses it to justify his controversial views

Where in Paradise Lost is the creation story narrated?

In Book III by Raphael

How does the Bible justify God despite the existence of evil? How is Milton influenced by this?

• God created everything good including his angels

• Evil came about when his angels rebelled and fell

• Thus Satan was one of those fallen angels, named Lucifer when he lived in heaven, and this is where he got knowledge from not the tree as he lies to Eve

Therefore where does Milton take the inspiration for Paradise Lost?

Genesis from the King James Bible

How is Satan’s rhetoric contextually influenced?

• Satan speaks in a similar manner that Milton did in his political prose

• He uses this to appeal to Eve’s reason as to why God would create them as Lords of all the earth but restrict them from eating the fruit

What is a Felix Culpa?

• Means the fortunate fall

• This is shown through God sending his Son (Jesus) to save us all and redeem us for our sins

What is the Great Chain of Being? Where is this used in the text?

• It is the order of beings in regard to superiority and this was given by God

• Satan attempts to transcend this hence his involvement in “rising mist” and appearing to Eve in “rising folds”

What aspect of the fall did Milton add in his revision of it?

He made the fruit an apple

What did Milton write after Paradise Lost and when?

• Paradise Regained

• 1671

• Is where Satan attempted to tempt Jesus Christ

• Showed also how Adam and Eve perpetually sinned