UESTC
John Milton and Paradise Lost
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400th Anniversary of Milton’s Birth
1608-2008
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First Glimpse of Paradise Lost:
Excerpt Appreciation
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Paradise Lost
excerpt (Book I )
What though the field be lost?
All is not lost—the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome.
That glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me.
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To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deify his power
Who, from the terror of this arm, so late
Doubted his empire—that were low
indeed;
That were an ignominy and shame
beneath
This downfall;
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since, by fate, the strength of Gods,
And this empyreal substance, cannot fail;
Since, through experience of this great
event,
In arms not worse, in foresight much
advanced,
We may with more successful hope resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Irreconcilable to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs’, and in the excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven. 6
Question
What is your impression of
Satan in this speech?
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What is your impression of Satan?
Unyielding
Revengeful
Competitive
Proud
Eloquent
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What though the field be lost?
All is not lost: the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
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What is your impression of Satan?
Unyielding
Revengeful
Competitive
Proud
Eloquent
Admirable?!
devil
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Response and Criticism
Some General Comments
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“英诗人弥尔敦（J.Milton），尝取其事作《失乐园》
（The Paradise Lost），有天神与撒旦战事，以喻光
明与黑暗之争。撒旦为状，复至狞厉。是诗而后，人
之恶撒旦遂益深。 然使震旦人异其信仰者观
之，则亚当之居伊甸，盖不殊于笼禽，不
识不知，惟帝是悦，使无天魔之诱，人
类将无由生。故世间人，当蔑弗秉有魔
血，惠及人世者，撒旦其首矣。”
——《坟·摩罗诗力说》一卷第73页，鲁迅
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Response and Criticism
Chinese
• Satan---a promethean hero.
• A rebel against tyranny,
against the dictator and
established doctrines.
• Milton's mouthpiece, uttering
his hatred of tyranny.
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Response and Criticism
West
Attack
“Milton is on the
side of devil
without knowing it”
Milton’s heart was
at war with his
head
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Questions
for A Second View
Controversy Focus
Milton’s Stumbling-Block
Milton’s Justification
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A Second View of Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost as an epic
Controversy Focus
Paradise Lost as a biblical narrative
Milton’s Stumbling-Block & Justification I
Paradise Lost as a personal poem
Milton’s Justification II
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Paradise Lost as an epic
What is an epic?
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Paradise Lost as an epic
What is an epic?
Homeric Tradition
Length
Subject Matter
Epic Hero
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What is an epic?
Length & Subject Matter
• A long narrative poem, huge and
massive
• Stories about nations, gods,
heroes, warfare and adventures
• Main character---a hero.
• The purpose of an epic is not
only to entertain, but to teach
and inspire.
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Epic Hero
• main character
• He reflects the
morals and
values of the
society from
which he comes.
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Epic Hero Models
Achilles
Odysseus
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Paradise Lost as an Epic
Length
• 12 Books
• "None ever wished it
longer than it is"
---Samuel Johnson
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Paradise Lost as an epic
Controversy Focus
• Nation: God’s Kingdom
• Hero: Is Satan the hero?
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Paradise Lost as a biblical narrative
 Part One: Genesis Story of Adam
and Eve
 Part Two: Milton’s Stumbling
Block & Milton’s Justification I
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Paradise Lost as a biblical narrative
Part One
Genesis Story of Adam and Eve
Creation of Adam and Eve
Temptation of Snake (Satan)
Fall of Adam and Eve
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Creation of Adam
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Garden of Eden
Paradise
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Forbidden Tree
Forbidden Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil
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Creation of Eve
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Temptation of the Snake
Satan
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Tempted Adam and Eve
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Fall of Adam and Eve
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Fall of Adam and Eve
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Paradise Lost as a biblical narrative
Part Two
 Milton’s Stumbling Block
 Milton’s Justification I
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Milton’s Stumbling Block
1. Why is it sinful of man to eat the
fruits?
2. Is Satan evil just because he makes
Adam and Eve eat the fruit and
know the knowledge?
3. If God is so great, why doesn’t he
stop Satan at the beginning?
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Milton’s Justification I
“Justify the ways of God to men”
Why is it sinful of man to eat the fruits?
Sin of Pride
Is Satan evil because he makes Adam and
Eve eat the fruit and know the knowledge?
Progressive Degradation of Satan
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Paradise Lost
as a personal poetry
Milton’s Justification II
National Upheaval
Personal Trauma
Milton’s Justification
Liberty
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National Upheaval
Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation in England
Protestants in England
Anglicans
Puritans
Milton the Puritan
The Puritan Age
Civil War
Cromwell
Republican Commonwealth
the Republic, Cromwell & Milton
Restoration
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Protestant Reformation
• Christianity was essentially a
matter of an individual
relationship between the
believer and God--Individualism
• overthrown the religious and
political authority
• Split from Roman Catholic
Church
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Protestant Reformation in England
• Henry VIII
• Broke with the
Church of Rome
• Anglican Church
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Protestants in England
• Anglicans
– conservative Protestants
• Puritans
– Business Class
– Purify the Anglican
Church
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Puritans
• Business Class
• hostile to the traditional
structure of authority
• From Religious Request
to Political Request
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The Puritan Age 1
Civil War/Puritan Revolution:
Parliament VS. Monarch
Olive Cromwell
Charles I
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The Puritan Age 2
Cromwell Rise on Power
• Overthrew
Monarchy
• Executed King
• Republic
• Protector of England
– Virtually king
Charles I Beheaded44
The End of the Puritan Age
Restoration
Charles II
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Republic, Milton & Cromwell
• Latin Secretary
• Hated Monarch
• Firmly supported Republic–
a heaven on the earth
• Disapproval of Dictatorship
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Milton’s Personal Trauma
Darkest Time
•
•
•
•
•
Books Banned
Jailed
Wife Died
Blindness
Threatened with execution
and assassination
• Totally Disillusioned
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Dictated Paradise Lost in Blindness
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Milton the Puritan
• Attacked Unjust Authority
• Advocated liberalizing restrictions
on speech
• Tireless champion of liberty
• His Idea of Liberty
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Milton’s Justification II
Liberty
Milton’s View of Liberty
Liberty and God
Liberty and Adam & Eve
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Milton’s View of Liberty
Free Will
• “To be free requires you
should act you choose without
being forcibly prevented from
acting or forcibly acting
another way”
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Liberty & God
• “sufficient to
have stood,
though free to
fall”
• kernel of Milton's
sense of free will
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Liberty and Adam & Eve
“What is Faith, Love,
Virtue unassay’d
Alone, without
exterior help
sustain’d?”
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Episode Summary 1
• “If we look at his picture through
seventeenth century eye, if we try
not to impose upon it the deceptions
of our own historic and personal
perspectives, its implications should
be plain and unmistakable.”
-----Balachandra Rajan
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