Richard STRIER – PARADISE LOST Lectures
John Milton I,II,IV,IX
Narrator
“I am recovering the poem from the bondage of rhyming” he described rhyming as
limiting. He wants to remove the need of rhyming from literature in poems – human
limitations – grand way of thinking.
The narrator of the epic poem is often a presence, present to a extraordinary degree
in the poem, what the poems mean – he is himself a character in the poem. First
person account of writing – these occur in 1, 3, 7, 9.
Most epic poems have named the hero at the first line. E.g. in the iliad it is anger of
achilles , odyssey – odisius man skiled in the ways of the world, inead – man .. but
in milton’s poem it is the man – generic abstract.
Line breaks with no punctuation, the first line is ambiguous – just ends with fruit.
Grand leisure styles, epics are not efficient story, complex – all know the story, and
then what happen – not what the epic is about, the audience already knows the
story. All epic poets – appeal to a muse. Writing is the adventure – I am going to do
something never be done, gives invocation – Milton radical proteseant – a quaker –
envokes that against church building – upright heart – that sprit to help him. He
wants the spirit to help his story, is Milton writing the bible? Is he writing a
supplement, equivalent? Is his muse the spirit that inspired the bible.
In general, the muse helps to tell the story, but for Milton he wants to make a point,
not to just to tell a hard grand story, but he wants to make a point, to justify the
ways of god- grand task to take on men, he wants to justify the gods way, if you
look around to see defeat in what you hold valuable, hence he needs to justify the
gods ways.
Book 3
What it means to be blind line 19, sense of isolation due to blindness is quite big,
wisdom at one endness quite shut out, internal eyes is the other entrance, special
kind of inward sight, I might see the tell, of things invisible to mortal sight, book 9
man is come to light, it is mortal sight, since man hasn’t been invented. Happens
before creation.
Satan
What people should want? He was a revolutionary that was jailed for his defence of
the death of king Charles.
First voice other than Milton is satan, why not tell the story in the lineage, why start
with satan in hell, starting with satan in hell, as the book is the paradise lost- loss is
the topic of the poem, satan says”why satan think he lost, as god is wins just cause
he is strength, tyranny of heaven, deify his power’ superior power, hence hasn’t
really been defeated, the mental state – sense of injured merit – unconquerable will
mind not to be changed be place or time, mind makes heaven or hell, sounds
heroic, fallen champion, mind over circumstances, is it true? Think about, can we
Richard STRIER – PARADISE LOST Lectures
just assert that we are in a state regardless of the situation, satan values his
unconquerable spirit, to reign is to ambiotion, better to reign in hell, than serve in
heaven? What it means to never to serve? Herois insanity, heroic arrogance, service
demeaning? Someone like a human conscious experiencing loss
Eden
Lot of time, before the introduction of humans, life before the fall, is milton’s
creation, part of achievement is to create a picture of eden. Edden is a character
and extraordinary. Book 4 adam and eve in the garden. Errare – root meaning error.
De describes the eden as a out of control garden, not manicured, he didn’t take
pleasure in what they say, its satanic to not be delighted, pleasure is not satanic,
“with native honor clad, in naked majesty” nakedness is unimpressed, clad in
native honor, carry their nakedness, not shame and self consciousness, different
from fallen world, naked yet – but wearing abstract things like honor. Being innocent
is not about pleasure, it’s a life of conversation, thus talking alone they passed.
Enjoyment of social life- raphael comes to lunch – the angelic world is also physical
– they eat, fall in love etc.
The Fall
Does god want to keep you ignorant? No since rapahael does talk about things he
has no idea of, as they want to know of thing. Work the garden – they talk about the
labor duties. Have they children, allows for spirited conversations, can disagree
without have a strife? Why is satan successful? “look on me”a snake can talk, he
can talk because he had the forbidden fruit- temptation. Just believe what you see,
intellectual advancement? Fanatasy of will she have new interllectural powers,
pleasure of superiority’ is the fall. Why adam goes along? While eve’s fall is
impereisism, believe ehat you see, ambition.
Adam falls due to love for eve, when adam falls, to live again in these wild woods
forlorn, remedyless, that’s the mistake he makes – lack of intellectual clarity.
The ending
It might not be a tragedy, goodness infinite, poem ends on – feeling – wipe the
tears, in providence is gods, they hand hand- through eden took their solitary away,
reduced world – human relationships are possible. It would have been better if fall
hadn’t happened.
