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Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost. Historical Context. Charles 1 and Parliament. Charles 1 king from 1625-1642. Highlights of his reign: N eeded money for his wars, and Parliament refused to fund them

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Paradise Lost

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  1. Paradise Lost Historical Context

  2. Charles 1 and Parliament • Charles 1 king from 1625-1642. • Highlights of his reign: • Needed money for his wars, and Parliament refused to fund them • To get around this, he extorted loans from his wealthy subjects and forced the poor into service as soldiers and sailors • Parliament tried to prevent him from abusing his power • To get around this, King Charles I dissolved Parliament and wouldn’t call it into session for 11 years (genius!)

  3. Charles I and Religion • He insisted that clergymen “conform,” or observe all the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. • Puritans – Calvinists who wished to purify the Church of its Catholic traditions – were enraged by some of these requirements. • Radical Puritans believed each group of worshipers had the right to choose its own ministers. This way of thinking was dangerously close to democracy. Charles I felt threatened by it so he persecuted and tortured “dissenters” as criminals. Lovely.

  4. The Civil War • Charles I was forced to fight Scottish rebels outraged by his insistence on religious conformity. • As a result, he is desperate for money and has to summon Parliament • Finally allowed to meet, Parliament passes numerous reforms to counteract decisions the King has made in their absence. • Charles I tries to outmaneuver the reformers, Parliament condemns him as tyrant, and Civil War breaks out!

  5. Civil War • Oliver Cromwell leads Parliament’s forces and defeats the royalist army and captures Charles I in 1645 • Parliament is mostly made up of radical Puritans by then and they convict the king of treason. He was beheaded in 1649. Lovely. • Cromwell leads the new government, but faces discontent at home and wars abroad. So, naturally he dissolves Parliament in 1653 and names himself Lord Protector. (this made me laugh out loud) • Lord Protector rules as a dictator until his death in 1658.

  6. These Poor People! • Civil War had not led to the free society that many who had fought against the king expected. • Like any good writer, Milton channels his frustration into one of the greatest works of literature. • He actually supported Lord Protector and defended the execution of Charles I, but as Cromwell’s rule turned into a dictatorship, Milton lost hope in the possibility of forming a just society on earth (or at the very least in England)

  7. Paradise Lost • This text is Milton’s answer to the great historical crisis through which Britain had just passed. • The upheavals of the Civil War shattered the symbolic centers of English life and culture: church and king. • Many believe that Milton helped the nation find its bearings again by retelling the central story of its culture, Adam and Eve. • In the dark, defiant figure of the rebel angel Satan, he commemorated the destructive forces that had recently torn through the nation. • At the same time, the fall of Satan symbolically put rebellious urges into their proper place – the netherworld of hell.

  8. Conventions of Epic Poetry • Remember, an epic is a long narrative poem that tells the story of a hero and reflects the values of a culture. • As we read Paradise Lost, look for the following conventions within his epic poem: • a story that begins in the middle of the action (in media res) • an opening invocation in which the poet calls for divine aid in telling his story • Extended similes

  9. Paradise Lost • With a partner, write a modern translation of the introduction (lines 1-27) • Which convention of epic poetry do we see in this section? • Milton states the purpose of this text. What is it? • How is the purpose related to the historical context?

  10. Homework • Finish translation and answer questions for Friday. • Gerund phrase homework due tomorrow

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