Paradise lost as a classical epic poem

INTRODUCTION
 epic poem in blank verse by John Milton, originally issued in 10 books in 1667
 In crafting Paradise Lost, Milton drew upon a vast body of theological, philosophical,
and mythological texts. For this reason, the poem is full (I would say ‘filled with
allusions and mythological references) of allusions and greatness
 Early in Book I, Milton professes that his mission is to “assert Eternal Providence/ And
justifie the wayes of God to men” (25-26)

Characteristics of an epic poem:

 Highest type of narrative poem
 Characters and actions are of heroic proportion
 Hero is a character of great national and international importance
 Belongs to the highest class in society and is distinctive from the majority
 The hero in Paradise lost is Adams, representing the entire race of man
 The setting has a lot of room; In paradise lost, the scope is cosmic, containing heaven,
earth, and hell
 The action involves heroic deeds. Paradise Lost includes the war in heaven and the
journey of Satan to discover the newly created (newly-created world) use hyphen when
the adjective appears in front of a noun. If it appears after a noun it will be without a
hyphen for eg. A world that is newly created (i.e. without a hyphen) world.
 It must have what Aristotle says greatness. It must generate an influence on the destinies
of great men and nations.

MAIN ATTRIBUTES OF MILTON’S EPIC:

“PARADISE LOST“
(i) Universality of the Subject-matter in “Paradise Lost“
 Paradise Lost is an epic poem of the entire cosmological universe, involving
the entire human species.
 “Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.” – Milton making this claim
 A connected between the created world and pre-human, inconceivable world
 This connection is established through the narration of Satan, a central
character
 Paradise Lost indicates the destiny of all humanity through the sins of the first
man created by God
 A universal view of our existence is depicted, showing how man has a past, a
present and a future
  The philosophical view of this epic poem is to write about the fall of man and
justify the ways of God to men.

(ii) Unity of Action in “Paradise Lost“

 Theme of Paradise Lost is the “Fall of man” everything (either leads up to it
or follows from it) leads up to it or follows from it
 The plucking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge by Eve is integral to the
whole structure of Paradise Lost

So saying, her rash hand in evil hour

Forth-reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat.
Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat
Sighing through her all works, gave signs of woe
That all was lost:
 These are the central lines to which everything else returns – Great Unity
 The war between God and Satan, followed by Satan’s fall, is only an
introduction to the main action.
 Satan defeated and punished, sought to take revenge on God by bringing
about the fall of man.
 Hence the whole action is single and compact.

(3) Human Interest in “Paradise Lost“

 Human interest centers around the figure of Adam – a central character
 According to Aristotle, The Epic, just like Tragedy is a story of human action
 Though there are only two humans in this, yet their act of disobedience is a
central theme
 “the fruit of that forbidden tree” is of prime importance for on it depends the
fate of entire humanity
 The last two lines shows (show) the departure of Adam and Ever from the
garden of Eden and they are appealing to human emotion for invoking pity
and sadness

They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow

        Through Eden took their solitary way.

(4) Grand Style of “Paradise Lost“

 Another characteristic of an epic poem is its (g)rand style
 Milton’s poetic style in Paradise Lost is that of sublimity in English
poetry
 For Paradise Lost, Milton was given the complement of “mighty
mouthed inventor of harmonies” and “God gifted organ-
voice of England” by Alfred Tennyson
 The iconic Satan’s quote from 'Paradise Lost' will send chills down your
spine. "Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n."
CONCLUSION
(Paraphrase everything that has been said above)