Learner Resource 1
Milton’s introduction to Book 9
Key Concepts: tragedy, authorial intrusions
Look at lines 1-47, the opening to book 9:
Lines 1-6: The narrator says the tone will shift to ‘tragic’.
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What does this lead the reader to expect?
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In what ways can we see the following story as a tragedy?
Lines 6-13:
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Explore how Milton presents man’s actions and God’s response to them in these lines.
Look closely at the moral overtones of the language.
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John Milton Paradise Lost books 9 and 10
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Lines 13-4:
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Explore the way Milton the narrator puts his epic within a literary context in these lines.
How does he feel his work will differ from those that have gone before?
The narrator uses the first person within these lines five times. Pick out some examples.
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What impression of Milton the narrator are we given here?
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What is his attitude to his project and the likelihood of success?
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John Milton Paradise Lost books 9 and 10
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Extension work: As you read the whole text look for other sections of authorial intrusion and
compare the ways in which they affect the reader’s response to the narrative.
Extension work, A Level: Compare the way Milton opens this section of Paradise Lost with the
way your drama text opens.
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How effective are both openings in terms of structure?
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John Milton Paradise Lost books 9 and 10
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