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Missing image Milton_paradise.jpg Paradise Lost book cover Paradise Lost (published 1667) is an epic poem, originally in 10 books, later revised in 12, of blank verse by the 17th century English poet John Milton. It narrates the Christian story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The protagonist of this Protestant epic, is the fallen angel, Satan. Looked at from a modern perspective it may appear to some that Milton presents Satan sympathetically, as an ambitious and prideful being who defies his tyrannical creator, omnipotent God, and wages war on Heaven, only to be defeated and cast down. Some critics regard the character of Satan as a Byronic hero. Milton worked for Cromwell and thus wrote firsthand for the revolution. Milton wrote many articles including Areopagitica, defending the freedom of the press. Thus, the failed rebellion and reinstallment of the monarchy left Milton to explore his losses within Paradise Lost. Some critics say that Milton sympathized with the Satan of Paradise Lost, in that both had experienced a failed cause. The story is innovative in that it attempts to reconcile the Christian and the Pagan; like Shakespeare, Milton found Christian mythology lacking. Milton tries to incorporate Paganism, classical references (Greek), and Christianity within Paradise Lost. Milton idolized the classics but also desired to surpass them by trying this feat. Many tough theological issues are grappled with, including fate, predestination, and the Trinity. Milton did not believe in the Trinity. He believed only in the Father and the Son. He presents a Father who is good but angry and sarcastic, and a Son who is genuinely giving and optimistic. The Son serves as a "vessel" for the Father's more good natured aspect.
StoryMilton's story contains two story arcs: that of Satan and that of Adam and Eve. Satan's story is an homage to the old epics of warfare. It begins in media res, after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and cast down by God into Hell. In Pandæmonium, Lucifer must employ his rhetorical ability to organize his followers; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers himself to poison the newly-created Earth. He releases Sin and Death into the world, and braves the dangers of the Abyss in a manner reminiscient of Odysseus or Aeneas. The other story is a fundamentally different, new kind of epic: a domestic one. Adam and Eve are presented for the first time in Christian literature as having a functional relationship while still without sin. They have arguments, passions and personalities, as well as sexual intercourse. Satan successfully tempts Eve, who in turn convinces Adam. They again have sex, but with a newfound lust that was previously not present. After realizing their error in consuming the "fruyt" from the Tree of Knowledge, they fight. However, Eve's pleas to Adam reconciles them. Adam is shown by an angel the errors of man, the great flood, and is saddened by the sin which Adam and Eve released through the consumption of the "fruyt" of knowledge. However, he is also shown hope, through the Son's own sacrifice. They are then cast out of Eden, and an angel adds that one may find "A paradise within thee, happier farr." They now have to find a new Father, one that is omnipresent yet not visible (contrary to the previous tangible Father in Eden). ContextInfluences include the Bible, Milton's own Puritan upbringing and religious perspective, Edmund Spenser, and the Roman poet Virgil. Milton wrote the entire work after he lost his sight with the help of secretaries and friends, notably Andrew Marvell. On April 27, 1667 the blind, impoverished Milton sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10. Later in life, Milton wrote the much shorter Paradise Regained, charting the temptation of Christ by Satan, and the return of the possibility of paradise. This sequel has never had a reputation equal to the earlier poem. LegacyThis epic has generally been considered one of the greatest works in the English language. However, since it is based upon scripture, its significance in the literary canon has first been reinterpreted and later dwindled with religion. In The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake commented:
That became the most common reinterpretation of the work in secular universities in the twentieth century. But to this day, among evangelical Christians, there is no such reinterpretation; it is considered on the same level as the passages and theology on which it is based. However, now it is "high art," so it is neither read nor quoted widely by them. The epic was one of the inspirations for Philip Pullman's trilogy of novels His Dark Materials. He states that the work is no longer much read in Britain by schools and universities. And in his introduction, he adapts Blake's line to quip that he (Pullman) "is of the Devil's party and does know it." In the late 1970s, the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki wrote an opera based on Paradise Lost. Online textsParadise Lost
Paradise Regained
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