John Milton’s

Paradise Lost

Source: John Geraghty’s Digital Facsimile Project

Mr. Adam Johnson

Senior English 2004-2005
 Epic Poetry As a Classic
Literary Form
Examples:

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 unfold
Messiah 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 in
London, 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
 Satan
Major 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