John Milton’s

Paradise LostParadise LostParadise LostParadise Lost

Mr. Adam Johnson

Senior English 2004-2005

Source: John Geraghty’s Digital Facsimile Project

Epic Poetry As a Classic

Literary FormExamples:

� Homer recorded first major epic poems: The Iliad and The Odyssey

� Virgil tells story of Rome’s founding in The Aeneid

� Dante describes Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in great detail in The Divine Comedy

� John Milton gives account of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden in Paradise Lost

Why Write It?

� Wanted to surpass previous epics

� Deals with great deeds on a cosmic scale

� Attempts to address the reason for sin and

suffering in the world: God is not responsible;

Adam and Eve “brought death into the world,

and all our woe.”

� Asserts that God gave us free will, and we are

responsible for our choosing of evil

Why Write It?

� Shows the struggle between good and evil (goodness is not goodness without a struggle to overcome evil)

� Virtue is not virtue unless it is won in the “dust and heat” of the conflict with evil.

� Though Adam and Eve “lose,” they gain the right to prove themselves.

Verse Style

� Paradise Lost is written in blank verse

�Unrhymed iambic pentameter

�Example: Paradise Lost

� John Milton did not think that his poem had to

rhyme, since Classical poetry (e.g. The Iliad) did

not

� You will notice when reading that perfect I.P. does

not always occur in Paradise Lost

I.P. and Paradise Lost(Text from First 5 Lines of Bk. 1)

� “ When I beheld the Poet blind, yet bold,

In slender Book his vast Design unfoldMessiah Crown'd, Gods Reconcil'd Decree,Rebelling Angels, the Forbidden Tree,

Heav'n, Hell, Earth, Chaos, All; the Argument;”

� Notice how there are 10 syllables in each line

�To read correctly, emphasize every second

syllable

John Milton

� Born on Dec. 9, 1609 inLondon, England

� Graduates from Cambridge with an M.A.

� Completely blind by 1652

� Paradise Lost published in 10-book form, 1667

� Paradise Lost re-published in 12-book form, 1674

� Dies, Nov. 1674

John Milton´s Times

� 1642-1649: English Civil War

� King/Anglican Clergy vs. Parliament (dominated by

Puritans)

� Protestant Revolution (Death of King Charles I)

� 1649-1660: No British King

� 1649-1653: Commonwealth

� 1653-1658: Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell

� 1660: Restoration (of King Charles II)

Paradise Lost – Leading Up to the Beginning

� At beginning of poem, war in Heaven has been

over for two weeks

� For nine days, Satan and those who fought God

alongside him have been lying in Hell, stunned

at the outcome

� The first character to move is Satan, who begins

by speaking to Beelzebub

� Starts to sort of rally his troops

The Characters

� Only Six major characters

� Satan, the leader of the fallen angels (now known as

devils)

� Beelzebub, Satan´s closest friend/ally

� God, God the Father

� The Son, God the Son; also known as the Messiah,

Christ

� Adam, The first man, living in Paradise

� Eve, His wife, supposed to be under his control

SatanMajor Quote: "Better to reign in Hell then serve in Heav'n!"

� The leader of the angels who were cast from Heaven for eternity

� His big entrance to the poem are lines 84-191.

� He is the focus of the section we’ll read.

Beelzebub

� Satan’s best friend (“Lord of the Flies,”Prince of Demons)

� He is talking to Satan about a return to Heaven for more fighting

� Disappears after Book I

God The Father

� Called the Father because of Holy Trinity: The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit

� Ruler of Heaven and Creator of Earth

� It was he who cast Satan out