Love, Sex and Marriage in Milton’s PL
Dr. Boris Beric
boris.beric@bj.t-com.hr
Syllabus
Winter 2015
Office: 72
Office Hours: Mon 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Tu 10:30 – 11:30 a.m., or by appointment
Texts:
Lewis, C. S. A Preface to Paradise Lost, Being the Ballard Matthews Lectures: Delivered at
University College, North Wales, 1941. London: Oxford UP, 1942.
McCarthy, Conor, ed. Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages: A Sourcebook. London and
New York: Routledge, 2004.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost
Turner, James Grantham. One Flesh: Paradisal Marriage and Sexual Relations in the Age of
Milton. Oxford: Clarendon, 1993.
Reading Assignments and Reports Schedule
Week 1
Introduction; “John Milton in and out of Season”
Week 2
Milton’s Life and Education
Week 3
Virtual Entities: Environment, Community, Language and the Body
Paradise Lost, Book I
Week 4
Book II
Eros Harnessed to Political Ends
Week 5
Book III
Milton’s Marriage(s)
Plutarch, Advice to the Bride and Groom
*Elaine Pagels, The Origin of Satan
Week 6
Book IV
The Sanctity of Adam and Eve’s Home: Prelapsarian and Satanic Sexualities
*Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve and the Serpent
Week 7
Book V
*Edward Le Comte, Milton and Sex
*Joad Raymond, Milton’s Angels
*T. J. Wray and Gregory Mobley, The Birth of Satan
*William Empson, Milton’s God
Week 8
Book VI
*Dennis H. Burden, The Logical Epic
Paper Assigned
Week 9
Book VII
Gendering the Body
*Milton and Gender. Ed. Catherine Gimelli Martin, (chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7,)
Week 10
Book VIII
*Stephen M. Fallon, Milton among the Philosophers
*Christopher Hill, Milton and the English Revolution (part 5)
Week 11
Book IX
*Neil Forsyth, The Satanic Epic
*Christopher Kendrick, Milton: A Study in Ideology and Form (parts 2 and 3)
Paper Due
Week 12
Book X
*Lesel Dawson, Lovesickness and Gender in Early Modern England, (chapters
1, 5, 6.)
Week 13
Book XI
*Joseph Anthony Wittreich, Visionary Poetics (chaper 1)
Week 14
Book XII
*Richard Elliott Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible?
*Anthony Low, The Reinvention of Love (chapters 7, 8)
Course Requirements and Grading Policy
The final grade for the course is based on one oral report (40%) and one paper assignment
(50%) during semester. Additional 10% is reserved for pop quizzes and class participation.
Important: If you have any problems meeting these requirements let me know in advance;
late excuses won’t be accepted. There is no comprehensive examination at the end of this
course. If you miss five or more classes or if you fail to accumulate more than 39% of your
final grade during semester, you won’t be granted the signature for the course. Late papers
will be penalized as will be any attempt to commit plagiarism. Plagiarism might result in your
failing the course.
*Student reports