‘Paradise Lost’
305 group
Nilufar Aliboeva
Background
• Conflict between Charles I and
Parliament
• Charles I was taking on a more personal
rule and taking England to war
• Given a trial and Death Warrant signed
and carried out in 1649
• Milton was Secretary for Foreign
Tongues for the Republic
• Restoration 1660 restored the monarchy
in the Isles under Charles II
• ‘Paradise Lost’ published in 1667
extremely religious and moralistic in
theme
John Milton
• Puritan, born in 1608 died in 1674.
• Wrote poetry in English, Italian and Latin
• In 1642 he upset his new wife with his political views
to such an extent that she returned to her Royalist
family – his divorce got him in religious trouble
• He subsequently argued that incompatibility of spirit
was more important in divorce than adultery
• He also promoted free press – opposed to Charles I
in the conflict preceding the Restoration
• Along with Chaucer and Shakespeare, one of the
foremost Canonical writers
Other Milton morsels
• By 1654, Milton was blind due to
glaucoma. Gothicly, he would
dictate ‘Paradise Lost’ to his
daughters Anne, Mary and
Deborah.
• He avoided the mind-body dualism
of Descartes and Plato through his
monism/ animist belief in a single
animated substance composing the
entire universe.
- this is apparent in ‘Paradise Lost’, when angels
eat and have sex.
Milton’s musings
• “A man may be a heretic in the truth; and if
he believe things only because his pastor
says so, or the assembly so determines,
without knowing other reason, though his
belief be true, yet the very truth he holds
becomes his heresy.”
• “O loss of sight, of thee I most complain!
Blind among enemies, O worse”
• Reason also is choice.
Paradise Lost
• Separated into 12 books.
• Book9 has 1,179 lines
• It starts in medias res, with the background being
explained in books V-VI
• One arc of the plot follows Satan, the other Adam and
Eve – the latters are presented with passions and full,
distinct personalities – theirs is a domestic tragedy
• Conversely, Satan’s tragedy is caused by God casting
him into Tartarus (Hell)
• "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven“ – the tragic,
almost noble, figure of Satan in PL
The ‘Epic’
• Milton was interested by clear distinctions between
genres (of poetry)
• ‘Paradise Lost’, an epic poem, was written 80 years after
the definitive example of this form of writing, Spenser’s
‘The Faerie Queene’.
• - Milton was therefore following (resurrecting?) fashion
very loosely
• Epic poetry is defined by its significant length and broad
scope. Strong central characters generally mix with the
divine, although the conventions of this genre are
perhaps less strict than, for example, dramatic tragedy.
• What is more, Milton subverts the convention through his
use of Satan as the central ‘hero’.
Context of Reception
• The ‘His Dark Materials’ series by Phil Pullman takes its
title from the ‘Paradise Lost’ quotation: "His dark
materials to create more worlds", line 915 of Book II
• A heavy metal band from Halifax, West Yorkshire
• In 2006, it was announced that a film version would be
produced, with little information forthcoming afterwards
• Religious distinctions (i.e. between different Christians)
are far less important to the people of today
• However, there is still intellectual interest in philosophical
debate over metaphysical themes as recounted in PL
• Furthermore, it retains symbolic value as well as
supplementing good knowledge of the 1600s period.
• Because of the heroic focus being on him (and his
spear), Satan commands our sympathy, perhaps moreso
than in a more black-and-white historical context
Gustav Doré Engravings
SATAN
The Heavenly Hosts