John Milton
(1608—1674)
Life & Work
--- His lifetime can be divided into 3 periods:
Study (from his boyhood to 1640):
- receiving education,
- writing shorter poems,
- traveling (the Ground Tour).
B. Revolution (from 1640 to 1660):
- taking part in the English Revolution,
- using his pen as weapons,
- writing political pamphlets.
C. Writing (from 1660 to 1674)
- two epics (Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained)
- a poetical drama (Samson Agoniste).
Paradise Lost
(1667)
Introduction
--- Paradise Lost is Milton’s masterpiece. It is a long epic written in blank verse in 1663 & published in 1667. It is divided into 12 books.
Plot
The stories were taken from the Bible, The Old Testament:
(1) the creation;
(2) the rebellion in Heaven of Satan and his fellow-angels;
(3) their defeat and expulsion from Heaven;
(4) the creation of the earth and of Adam and Eve;
(5) the fallen angels in hell plotting against God;
(6) Satan’s temptation of Eve, and
(7) the departure of Adam and Eve from Eden.
--- In Heaven, Satan led a rebellion against God. Defeated, he & his rebel angels were cast into Hell. However, Satan refused to accept his failure, vowing that “all is not lost”, and that he would seek revenge for his downfall.
--- The poem goes on to tell how Satan took revenge by tempting Adam & Eve, the first human beings created by God, to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge against God’s instructions. For their disobedience, Adam & Eve were driven out of paradise.
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