经典分析弥尔顿--失乐园分析

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1660-1674: Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671), and Samson Agonistes (1671).
1). Milton’s Works of His Early Days
Poems written in Cambridge and at Horton: a. On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity 《基督诞 生晨颂》, first important work b. L’Allegro《快乐的人》 twin lyrical poems Penseroso《幽思的人》 Rhyme: abbacdeec c. Comus 《科玛斯》a mask假面剧, in blank verse d. Lycidas 《利西达斯》, expressing the pathos(哀颂)of his friend Edward King’s premature death
4. Milton’s literary career
• 1625-1640: short poems: L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (1632), Comus (1634, 宴会欢乐之 神), and Lycidas (1638) 1640-1660: pamphlets and tracts: Areopagitica (1644《论出版自由》); The Defense of the English People (1650); The 2nd Defense of the English People (1650).
At the exaltation of the Son these forces erupted and were cast forth. But God suffered them to escape from Hell and infect the Earth. And then the tragedy was reenacted, but with a difference — ―Man shall find grace‖. But he must lay hold of it by an act of free-will. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton's creed. His poem attempts to convince us that the unquestionable truth of Biblical revelation means that an all-knowing God was just in allowing Adam and Eve to be tempted and, of their free will, to choose sin and its inevitable punishment. And, thereby, it opens the way for the voluntary sacrifice of Christ, which showed the mercy of God in bringing good out evil.
Paradise Lost – Leading Up to the Beginning
• At the beginning of poem, war in Heaven has been over for two weeks; • For nine days, Satan and those who fought God alongside him have been lying in Hell, stunned at the outcome; • The first character to move is Satan, who begins by speaking to Beelzebub; • Starts to sort of rally his troops.
1. John Milton's Times
• 1642-1649: English Civil War – King/Anglican Clergy vs. Parliament (dominated by Puritans) • Protestant Revolution (Death of King Charles I) • 1649-1660: No British King – 1649-1653: Commonwealth – 1653-1658: Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell – 1660: Restoration (of King Charles II)
2). The Story of Paradise Lost
• • • • • • • The creation The rebellion of Satan and his fellow angels Their defeat and expulsion from Heaven Creation of the earth and of Adam and Eve Satan in hell plotting against God Satan’s temptation of Eve Departure of Adam and Eve from Eden
《离婚的戒律与学说》 c. Areopagitica 《论出版自由 》 a prose work for the freedom of the press d. Defence of the English People 《为英国人民声辩》 — A pamphlet against the divine right of the king. — People made the king, so the king should do everything for the people.
John Milton(1608—1674 )
He remained outside both Donne’s and Jonson’s influence
Fra Baidu bibliotek
Paradise Lost takes its place in western literature along with Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aneid《伊尼伊德》, and Dante’s Divine Comedy and in English literature with Beowulf and Spenser’s Fairie Queene.
3. His revolutionary career
1). Pamphleteering in the cause of religious and civil liberty in 1641-60. 2). Appointed Latin Secretary to Cromwell’s Council of State in 1649. 3). Censor and editor of the Commonwealth paper, Mercurius Politicu in 1651. Latin Defense of the People of England. 4). Totally blind in 1652 and imprisoned for a short time after the restoration and then retired to private life.
3). Themes:
a revolt against God’s authority
At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritual duty lies Milton’s fundamental concern with freedom and choice; the freedom to submit to God's prohibition on eating the apple and the choice of disobedience made for love. Eve, seduced by Satan’s rhetoric and her own confused ambition falls into sin through innocent credulity. Adam falls by consciously choosing human love rather than obeying God. This is the error wherein his greatness lies. In the fall of man Adam discovered his full humanity. But man's fall is the sequel to another and more stupendous tragedy, the fall of the angels. By lifting his argument to that plane, Milton raises the problem of evil in a more intractable form. Milton held that God created all things out of Himself, including evil. There was evil in Heaven before Satan rebelled: Pride, Lust, Wrath, and Avarice were there.
e. The Second Defence of the English People 《再为英国人民声辩》
— An answer to the productions against the Commonwealth. — Fight for the liberty of the nations in the world and recover their lost liberty.
2.Milton’s Religion
1). Milton believed that each individual Christian should be his own church, without any establishment to encumber him. 2). In his later years, Milton came to view all organized Christian churches, whether Anglican, Catholic or Presbyterian, as an obstacle to true faith.
2). Works of his adult years:
a. pamphlets on religious reform Of Reformation in England《论英国改革》 b. pamphlets on marriage and divorce: Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce
3). Milton’s works of old age
a. Paradise Lost b. Paradise Regained c. Samson Agonistes
5. Paradise Lost (1667)
1). Overview of Paradise Lost
__ Milton’s masterpiece. __ A long epic in 12 books. __ taken from the Old Testament. __ Major characters: Satan, God, Archangel, Adam, Eve… __ It is about Satan’s rebellion against God and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.