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John Milton& Paradise Lost. ♪ Historical Background ♪Introduction of John Milton ♪Paradise Lost ♪On his Blindness. English Civil War.
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♪ Historical Background ♪Introduction of John Milton ♪Paradise Lost ♪On his Blindness
English Civil War • The war began on August 22,1642 and ended in 1651. Charles I was condemned to death. The English Civil War is also called the Puritan Revolution. It has been seen as a conflict between the parliament and the King, and a conflict between economic interests of the Crown and the economic interests of the urban middle classed coincided with their religious ( Puritan) ideology while the Crown’s traditional economic interests correspondingly allied with Anglican(英国圣公会的) religious belief. • The parliament vs. the king • Economic interests of the Crown vs. economic interests of the urban middle class
The English Civil War not only overthrew feudal system in England but also shook the foundation of the feudal rule in Europe. It is generally regarded as the beginning of modern world history.英国内战不仅推翻了英国的封建制度，而且动摇了欧洲封建经济的基础。英国内战通常被看作是现代世界史的开端。
The First Civil War So, in 1641-46, Parliament allied with Scottish Presbyterians against Charles, trying Charles for treason and taking him prisoner. This was the first of three civil wars, variously called the Wars Between Three Kingdoms, the Puritan Revolution, the English Revolution, or the English Civil Wars.’ The Second Civil War In 1648, a different Socttish army, allied with Charles (who escaped in 1647) fought for Charles against a Parliament entitled the Rump Parliament (purged of members sympathetic to Charles). The Scottish army is defeated by general Oliver Cromwell. This is the second of the three civil wars. With Charles now in custody, this Parliament voted for Charles' execution. Charles was executed-- beheaded--in 1649. With Charles' execution, the Interregnum (period between kings) began. The Third Civil War In 1649-51, the third of the civil wars took place when the same Scottish forces as above waged war, along with Royalists in exile in Ireland, and Charles' son, Charles II. The Scottish forces were defeated. In 1653, Cromwell dissolved the Parliament that carried out Charles' execution and established a new, essentially powerless Parliament, and declared himself Lord Protector of England, Ireland, and Scotland. In 1658, Cromwell died as the Protectorate became weaker. In 1660, Charles II returned from exile to, with relatively little bloodshed, restore the monarchy.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 • In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother James II. James was brought up in exile（流放） in Europe, was a Catholic. He hoped to rule without giving up his personal religious views. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688 than 40 years ago. So the English politicians rejected James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, nor any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution.
Introduction of John Milton (1608-1674)
Life Story • John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, author, polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost（《失乐园》）and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica（《论出版自由》）.
Life Story • In 1608，John Milton was born in a prosperous and cultured middle class Puritan family. • When about twelve years old ， young Milton was sent to a famous boys' school in london called st. Paul's.
In 1625，John Milton enrolled at Christ's College, Cambridge, to be educated for the ministry. While Milton was a hardworking student, he was also argumentative to the extent that only a year later, in 1626, he got suspended after a dispute with his tutor, William Chappell. Life Story
Life Story • In 1632, Milton took his M.A. cum laude at Cambridge, after which he retired to the family homes in London and Horton, Buckinghamshire, for years of private study and literary composition. His poem, "On Shakespeare", was published in the same year in the Second Folio.
Life Story on settled down in London, where he began schooling his two nephews, later also taking in children of the better families. The Civil War was brewing — King Charles I invaded Scotland in 1639, and the Long Parliament was convened in 1640. Milton began writing pamphlets on political and religious matters
Life Story On January 30, 1649,milton was probably to witness the public execution of Charles I. In March, the Cromwellian government appointed Milton Secretary for Foreign Tongues and ordered him to write an answer to Charles I's purported Eikon Basilike In 1650, the Council of State ordered Milton to write a response to Salmasius' Defensio Regia — the Continental outcry against the English action
Life Story The year 1652 was one of many personal losses for Milton. In February, Milton lost his sight. This prompted him to write the sonnet "When I Consider How My Light is Spent." In May, 1652, Mary gave birth to a daughter, Deborah, and died a few days later. In June, one year-old John died.
Life Story • Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell died in October, 1658, and the days of the Commonwealth were coming to a close. In early 1659, Milton published“A Treatise of Civil Power and Ready and Easy Way To Establish a Free Commonwealth. ” For his propaganda writings, Milton had to go into hiding, for fear of retribution from the followers of King Charles II. In June, 1659, both Defensio pro populo Anglicano and Eikonoklastes were publicly burned. In early autumn, Milton was arrested and thrown in prison, to be released by order of Parliament before Christmas. King Charles II, son of the former king，was restored to the throne on May 30, 1660. • Milton died peacefully of gout in November, 1674, and was buried in the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate.
Milton’s Personal Character: • 1. Love beautiful things. • 2. Be hard working. • 3. Acquire a good knowledge of Latin. • 4. Have proud and independent spirit. • 5. Have revolutionary spirit. • 6. Love freedom.
Life Story execution(死刑) of Charles I Latin secretary, correspondence(信件；函件) pamphlets to support the government blindness, the persecution(迫害) died of gout(关节痛) hard-working, totally blind, beginning of 1652, 44 years old restoration of the Stuarts
Mary Powell, • political view, leave, back • Died from complications following children's birth Milton’s marriage 2. Catherine Wookcock died in childbirth 3. Elizabeth Minshull survived him (remained alive after him)
Poetic and dramatic works • 1631: L'Allegro • 1631: Il Penseroso • 1634: Comus (a masque) • 1638: Lycidas • 1645: Poems of Mr John Milton, Both English and Latin • 1655: On the Late Massacre in Piedmont • 1667: Paradise Lost • 1671: Paradise Regained • 1671: Samson Agonistes • 1673: Poems, &c, Upon Several Occasions
Political, philosophical and religious prose • Of Reformation (1641) • Of Prelatical Episcopacy (1641) • Animadversions (1641) • The Reason of Church-Government Urged against Prelaty (1642) • Apology for Smectymnuus (1642) • Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643) • Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce (1644) • Of Education (1644) • Areopagitica (1644) • Tetrachordon (1645) • Colasterion (1645) • The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) • Eikonoklastes (1649) Defensio pro Populo Anglicano [First Defense] (1651) Defensio Secunda [Second Defense] (1654) A treatise of Civil Power (1659) The Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings from the Church (1659) The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth (1660) Brief Notes Upon a Late Sermon (1660) Accedence Commenced Grammar (1669) History of Britain (1670) Artis logicae plenior institutio [Art of Logic] (1672) Of True Religion (1673) Epistolae Familiaries (1674) Prolusiones (1674) A brief History of Moscovia, and other less known Countries lying Eastward of Russia as far as Cathay, gathered from the writings of several Eye-witnesses (1682) De Doctrina Christiana (1823)
Paradise Lost • Outline • Introduction of characters • Feature • Symbols of Paradise Lost • Motifs of Paradise Lost • Themes of Paradise Lost • Analysis • Excerpt and Translation • Seven Sins and its connection to the work • Others associating with the work
Outline of Paradise Lost 这部叙事长诗共分12卷，一万余行，取材于《旧约·创世纪》。作品中描写天使撒旦率众反抗上帝，败后被打入地狱，变成魔王。听说上帝在创造新的世界伊甸园，里面居住新的种族“人类”。撒旦决心以引诱人类来完成复仇使命。他飞出地狱之门，来到伊甸园。先是偷听了亚当和夏娃的谈话，知道上帝禁止人吃智慧树的果实。他变形为蟾蜍，使夏娃做了一个想吃智慧果的梦，后又变形为蛇，引诱夏娃偷尝智慧果。亚当为了和夏娃共命运，也吃了禁果。上帝知道后，将他们逐出伊甸园。亚当和夏娃擦干懊悔的眼泪，携手踏上孤寂的路途。撒旦及众魔受到上帝的诅咒，蜕变为蛇，用腹行路，终生吃土。
第1部：全诗总纲，讲述了整个事件的起因和结果；第1部：全诗总纲，讲述了整个事件的起因和结果； • 第2部：撒旦与众叛逆天使讨论如何同上帝作战，夺取天堂； • 第3部：讲述上帝决定如何赐予人类恩惠； • 第4部：描述撒旦在天堂见到亚当夏娃，撒旦在夏娃的梦中施展引诱； • 第5部：天使警告亚当要当心恶魔的引诱； • 第6部：描绘天使与撒旦一伙的战斗； • 第7部：亚当向天使询问有关创世的许多问题，并一一得到回答； • 第8部：他接着又询问天体运行的问题，但对所得到的回答并不满意； • 第9部：撒旦化身为蛇，躺在伊甸园里，并指引亚当和夏娃摘食禁果； • 第10部：上帝因此震怒，亚当也后悔不已； • 第11部：圣子代表上帝宣布将亚当夏娃逐出天堂，并向他们指点未来； • 第12部：天使向他们叙述拯救之路，亚当夏娃终于离开天堂，失去了乐园
Paradise Lost is the great epic poem of the English language in blank verse, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle ranges across heaven, hell, and earth, as Satan and his band of rebel angels conspire against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, motivated by all too human temptations, but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love. P.S. Blank verse is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme.
Satan • Satan is the first major character introduced in the poem. He is introduced to Hell after a failed rebellion to wrestle control of Heaven from God. • A central character in the first half of the poem. A high ranking archangel in Heaven who became jealous of the Son of God and led multitudes of angels in a violent rebellion against the Almighty. Tossed into Hell, he makes it his kingdom, where he plans revenge against God by corrupting mankind. Satan’s complex musings and self-examination sometimes resemble a hero’s stance against a tyrannical enemy, inducing more sympathy from the reader than Milton intended. In the latter part of the poem, Satan’s character degenerates into a more typical villain, as we sympathize more with the human couple. • Lucifer • Satan's name before he fell. It means "brightest star." In his original state, he was glorious to behold.
Adam • Adam: Adam is the first human in Eden created by God. He is more intelligent than Eve and is also stronger, not only physically but morally. He is created perfect, but given free will, with which he can either maintain or lose his perfect state of happiness. God tests him by forbidding him to eat the fruit of one tree. Placing his love for Eve above his obedience to God proves his downfall. When Adam finds out that Eve has broken this commandment, rather than survive without her, he eats also, thereby losing Paradise and eternal happiness for himself and the world. After God passes sentence on him, laying on the cold ground, Adam delivers a long, emotional speech expressing self-recrimination, terror of death, and pity for the future of mankind, which concludes with a shocking verbal attack against.
Eve • Eve: Eve is the second human created, taken from one of Adam's ribs and shaped into a female form of Adam. She is subservient to Adam, but does not hesitate to argue with him. Satan targets her as the weaker sex（妇女，女性）, and tempts her to eat the forbidden fruit. She succumbs to his temptation, and decides to talk Adam into joining her in what at first seems like a good thing for both of them, but later brings terrible remorse（悔恨，自责）. Their mutual love, together with God's mercy, sustains them and provides a conclusion to the story which is not without hope. Eve's soliloquies before and after her sinful act are notable, as first she ruminates over Satan's persuasive argument, enhancing it with her own rationale, and afterwards considers not sharing the fruit with Adam, thereby raising herself to his level of wisdom by its imagined powers, or perhaps even, she thinks, a little higher.
The Son of God: The Son of God in Paradise Lost is Jesus Christ, though he is never named explicitly, since he has not yet entered human form.
God • God the Father: God the Father is the creator of Eden, Heaven, Hell, and of each of the main characters. He is an all-powerful and all-knowing being who cannot be overthrown by even the one-third of the angels Satan incites against him. In the poems God is surrounded by his angels, who never think of expressing any opinion of their own. His long speeches are never pleasing. He is the representative of an absolute monarch. However, the all-knowing God is just in allowing Adam and Eve to be attempted and, of their free will, to choose sin and its inevitable punishment, thereby opening the way for that voluntary sacrifice of Christ. This shows that God is merciful in bring good out of evil.
sin Death Daughter of Satan. Half-woman, half-serpent, she sprung from Satan's head when he conceived the thought of rebelling against God. She is charged to hold the key to the gates of Hell. Together with her son, Death, she builds a highway from Hell to Earth. Son of Sin, fathered by Satan. A faceless creature, his first act upon being born is to rape his mother. He confronts Satan at the gate of Hell, and the two are prevented from a deadly battle when Sin reveals that he is Satan's son/grandson by incestuous union with her.
Raphael • Raphael: Raphael is an angel who is sent by God to warn Adam about Satan's infiltration of Eden and to warn him that Satan is going to try to curse Adam and Eve. He is the poem's narrator of the account of Satan's rebellion in Heaven and the creation of the world, as told to the human couple. He is "sociably mild" in contrast to the stern, military angels.
Michael • Michael: After Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, God sends the angel Michael to visit Adam and Eve. His duty is to escort Adam and Eve out of Paradise.
Feature: Inheritance from traditional writings • 1)Influence from Franceand Italy; • 2) The blank verse inherited from Shakespeare; • 3) Influenced and inspired by Greek and Roman epics by Homer and Virgil; • 4) The Bible as source material and the themes of tragedy and redemption in the Old Testament mini-epic
Grade of angles • 上位三阶： • Saraphines(Seraphim,Serafim)：炽天使，六翼天使。 • Lucifer ：路西法，原天使长，光辉的晨星，后堕落。 • Cherubines(Cherubim) ：智天使，负责守伊甸园。 • Gabriel ：加百列，原七大天使之一，职务为警卫长，原为天使阶。 • Uriel ：乌里叶，原七大天使之一。 • Raffaele(Raphael) ：拉法叶（拉斐尔），原七大天使之一，原为能天使阶。 • Ithuriel ：神的发现。 • Zephon ：神的探索。 • Abdiel ：神之仆。 • Zophiel ：神之斥候。 • Thrones(Throni) ：座天使。
中位三阶： • Dominations(Dominion) ：主天使（神权）。地上界的天使均归其管辖，执行神交付的任务。 • Virtues ：力天使（神德）。展现奇迹，耶稣升天时在他身边出现过。 • Podesta(Powers,Puissances) ：能天使（神力）。天使军团的主力攻击部队。
下位三级： • Principautes(Principalities,Princedoms) ：权天使（王子）。在天界看门的防御部队。 • Arcangel ：大天使。负责神与人之间的传达。 • Remiel ：七大天使之一，神之猛兽，后堕落。 • Ariel ：神之狮，后堕落。 • Arioc：神之猛狮，后堕落。 • Sariel ：七大天使之一。 • Razuel ：七大天使之一。
Satan ：撒旦，堕落之魔王。 • Serpent:圣经创世纪中出现的巨大蛇形恶魔 • 8大堕落天使 7大恶魔 9大天使Azazel阿撒兹勒 Lucifer Michael(米迦勒)Rahab拉哈伯 Abadon Gabriel(加百列)Samael萨麦尔 Samael Raphael(拉斐尔)Sariel沙利叶 Berial Uriel(乌利尔)Camael卡麦尔 Satanail Metatron(梅塔特隆)Samyasa桑杨沙 Beelzebul Sariel(沙利叶)Asbeel安士白 Mastema Raguel(拉贵尔)Ariel亚列 Remiel(雷米尔) Rasiel(拉结尔)
Symbols of Paradise lost • The Scales in the Sky • As Satan prepares to fight Gabriel when he is discovered in Paradise, God causes the image of a pair of golden scales to appear in the sky. On one side of the scales, he puts the consequences of Satan’s running away, and on the other he puts the consequences of Satan’s staying and fighting with Gabriel. The side that shows him staying and fighting flies up, signifying its lightness and worthlessness. These scales symbolize the fact that God and Satan are not truly on opposite sides of a struggle—God is all-powerful, and Satan and Gabriel both derive all of their power from Him. God’s scales force Satan to realize the futility of taking arms against one of God’s angels again.
Symbols of Paradise lost • Adam’s Wreath • The wreath that Adam makes as he and Eve work separately in Book IX is symbolic in several ways. First, it represents his love for her and his attraction to her. But as he is about to give the wreath to her, his shock in noticing that she has eaten from the Tree of Knowledge makes him drop it to the ground. His dropping of the wreath symbolizes that his love and attraction to Eve is falling away. His image of her as a spiritual companion has been shattered completely, as he realizes her fallen state. The fallen wreath represents the loss of pure love.
Motifs of Paradise lost • Light and Dark • Opposites abound in Paradise Lost, including Heaven and Hell, God and Satan, and good and evil. Milton’s uses imagery of light and darkness to express all of these opposites. Angels are physically described in terms of light, whereas devils are generally described by their shadowy darkness. Milton also uses light to symbolize God and God’s grace. In his invocation in Book III, Milton asks that he be filled with this light so he can tell his divine story accurately and persuasively. While the absence of light in Hell and in Satan himself represents the absence of God and his grace.
The Geography of the Universe • Milton divides the universe into four major regions: glorious Heaven, dreadful Hell, confusing Chaos, and a young and vulnerable Earth in between. The opening scenes that take place in Hell give the reader immediate context as to Satan’s plot against God and humankind. The intermediate scenes in Heaven, in which God tells the angels of his plans, provide a philosophical and theological context for the story. Then, with these established settings of good and evil, light and dark, much of the action occurs in between on Earth. The powers of good and evil work against each other on this new battlefield of Earth. Satan fights God by tempting Adam and Eve, while God shows his love and mercy through the Son’s punishment of Adam and Eve.
Milton believes that any other information concerning the geography of the universe is unimportant. Milton acknowledges both the possibility that the sun revolves around the Earth and that the Earth revolves around the sun, without coming down on one side or the other. Raphael asserts that it does not matter which revolves around which, demonstrating that Milton’s cosmology（宇宙论） is based on the religious message he wants to convey, rather than on the findings of contemporaneous （同时代的）science or astronomy（天文学）.
Conversation and Contemplation • One common objection raised by readers of Paradise Lost is that the poem contains relatively little action. Milton sought to divert the reader’s attention from heroic battles and place it on the conversations and contemplations of his characters. Conversations comprise almost five complete books of Paradise Lost, close to half of the text. Milton’s narrative emphasis on conversation conveys the importance he attached to conversation and contemplation, two pursuits that he believed were of fundamental importance for a moral person. As with Adam and Raphael, and again with Adam and Michael, the sharing of ideas allows two people to share and spread God’s message. Likewise, pondering God and his grace allows a person to become closer to God and more obedient. Adam constantly contemplates God before the fall, whereas Satan contemplates only himself. After the fall, Adam and Eve must learn to maintain their conversation and contemplation if they hope to make their own happiness outside of Paradise.
The Importance of Obedience to God • The first words of Paradise Lost state that the poem’s main theme will be “Man’s first Disobedience.” Milton narrates the story of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, explains how and why it happens, and places the story within the larger context of Satan’s rebellion and Jesus’ resurrection. Raphael tells Adam about Satan’s disobedience in an effort to give him a firm grasp of the threat that Satan and humankind’s disobedience poses. In essence, Paradise Lost presents two moral paths that one can take after disobedience: the downward spiral of increasing sin（罪恶） and degradation, represented by Satan, and the road to redemption, represented by Adam and Eve.
The Hierarchical Nature of the Universe • Paradise Lost is about hierarchy as much as it is about obedience. The layout of the universe—with Heaven above, Hell below, and Earth in the middle—presents the universe as a hierarchy(等级制度) based on proximity to God and his grace. This spatial hierarchy leads to a social hierarchy of angels, humans, animals, and devils: the Son is closest to God, with the archangels and cherubs behind him. Adam and Eve and Earth’s animals come next, with Satan and the other fallen angels following last. To obey God is to respect this hierarchy. • Satan refuses to honor the Son as his superior, thereby questioning God’s hierarchy. As the angels in Satan’s camp rebel, they hope to beat God and thereby dissolve what they believe to be an unfair hierarchy in Heaven. When the Son and the good angels defeat the rebel angels, the rebels are punished by being banished far away from Heaven. At least, Satan argues later, they can make their own hierarchy in Hell, but they are nevertheless subject to God’s overall hierarchy, in which they are ranked the lowest. Satan continues to disobey God and his hierarchy as he seeks to corrupt mankind.
