I.
Hours 2 and 3
A. 2:10—2:25 Introduction
1.
The title
a)
Latinate
word order--epic register
b)
The
idea of The Fall—First and most prominent story in the Bible—also
in Greek and Roman and many other mythologies
c)
Associations:
childhood, Eden, innocence
d)
Utopia
thatÕs nature, thatÕs beautiful, thatÕs all pleasure, love and sex
e)
What
does it mean to be fallen:
f)
Pain,
sin, sex/love—the life of tragedy—enter it and leave it
crying—ripeness is all
2.
Relation of Paradise Lost to Milton's experience in Civil
Wars
a)
obedience,
monarchy and rebellion. Seeming liberation from tyranny. God is certainly not
the monarchy, but I think Satan is Cromwell and the Parliamentary army from the
perspective of 1660--see: "The Prophet Disarmed: Milton and the
Quakers"
3.
Epic
a)
Epic
tone and scale vs. pastoral--preparation
b)
Iliad,
Aeneid, Divine Comedy and Bible, Faerie Queene, Star Wars
c)
Fourfold
levels
d)
Military,
public and heroic moving to
personal and private
4.
Structure
a)
Books
1-2: Hell--Devils kicked out after rebellion and strategize to get revenge;
after long parliamentary meeting with heroic warrior speeches, elect Satan to
go out of Heaven and search out new world God is creating to replace
devils—politics and action movie: Satan vs. Death—Grendel vs.
Beowulf or Achilles and Hektor: Ògreat deedsÓ
b)
Book 3:
Heaven--God and Jesus looking at Satan's voyage and planning the
response--Theological view of history from eternity; Man will fall with free
will; the son will sacrifice himself to take the punishment
c)
Book
4--We see Adam and Eve in blissful bedtime preparations in Eden, through
Satan's jealous eyes watching. They go to sleep and disguised as frog, Satan
goes to eve and whispers poison dream into her unsuspecting ear
d)
Books
5 and 6--Raphael comes to Eden to warn A. about the threat; Eve serves dinner.
Raphael relates the whole epic story of the war in heaven—action movie;
invention of gunpowder
e)
Book
7--Raphael continues the long internal narrative by telling Adam the story of
the creation of the world before he was created by God
f)
Book
8 --Adam tells Raphael what he remembers of his own creation, his dialogue with
God about needing a human partner, the creation of Eve from out of his rib and
his first encounter with her and the power of his feelings for her.
g)
Book
9 is the temptation and fall—the war is a war within humans individually
and among one another—the biggest book, most dramatic, most Shakespearean
in terms of drama—Satan carries out his intention—tempts Eve to
disobey, she convinces Adam to join her; they are transformed from innocent to
experienced and their perfect relationship is spoiled
(1)
Up till now investigation of the givens of human nature;
followed by the playing out of that drama—in the archetypal human
relationship which then is played out in all human history
(2)
I now must change [ 5 ]
Those Notes to Tragic;
foul distrust, and breach
Disloyal on the part of Man, revolt,
And disobedience: On the part of Heav'n
Now alienated, distance and distaste,
Anger and just rebuke, and judgement giv'n, [ 10 ]
That brought into
this World a world of woe,
Sinne and her shadow Death, and Miserie
Deaths Harbinger: Sad task, yet argument
Not less but more Heroic then the
wrauth
Of stern Achilles on his
Foe pursu'd [ 15 ]
Thrice Fugitive about Troy Wall;
(3)
Longest and most dramatic book
Book 10
The son announces
the punishment for the fall to A and E: The whole world of the creation, that
is nature, is corrupted, SatanÕs victory bringing evil into the world—Sin
and Death enter; Adam excoriates Eve; they reconcile and face a horrible but
hopeful future together based on repentance and prayer and prospects for
redemption
Books 11 and 12
Angel Michael
tells humans they must leave Paradise for good and the outcomes of human
history up through the present and to the last judgement and leads them to the
gate; they come to terms with what it means to be fallen, mortal, subject to
suffering and sin
B. 2:25—2:50 Book 1
1.
Satan to Beelzebub
105-124 Satan's first
speech--heroic virtues
a)
Courage
and Eloquence--Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus
b)
Leadership
qualities--Moses, Jesus
c)
Defeated
rebels
2.
221-241 Rising out of the lake is action--relation to
speech?
C. Third speech--better to reign in hell:
a)
Morale;
rallying leader 105-124
b)
His
bringing them to life with a taunt—316—338
2.
Their awakening and encouragment by his
courage--522—543
3.
Military music and spectacle
4.
Developing civilization in Hell
a)
Mammon
the gold miner, building program, imperial pride 678
b)
Mulciber
the architect; Pandaemonium--high capitol
D. Book II
1.
2:55—3:10 The
Consult--
a)
general
(1)
issues of deliberation and uncertainty vs. Heaven's
certainty--difficulties of decision--trial and temptation--opinion swayng back
and forth
(2)
Parliamentary governance
(3)
Satan raised--his leadership qualities
(a)
Pep
talk--we're better off ["surer to prosper than prosperity/ could have
assured us"]because we chose this situation and because we are classless;
no danger here of ambition and faction
(4)
Deliberation--epic/political--vita activa
b)
*Moloch--the
violent [Ajax in the Iliad] 51-70
(1)
"My sentence is for open war"
(2)
Big noise
(3)
What could be worse
c)
Belial
(1)
Pleased the ear, make the worse appear the better reason
(2)
Its not so bad here--"if we can sustain and bear/Our
Supreme Foe in time may much remit/His anger" 210
d)
Mammon
(1)
Mammon--252--seek our own good from ourselves--"this
desert soil wants not hidden lustre"271
(2)
applause
e)
Beelzebub--Satan's
patsy
(1)
Those plans wont work--easier enterprise--pursue revenge
only--mess up God's new plan for creation
(2)
Who shall we send--Satan only one to volunteer--a set-up
political situation 420
(3)
He gets honor and praise--all this worked through
manipulation and demagoguery and yet narrator admires their capacity to decide
and act in concert contrasted to humans who cant resolve disagreements 500
2.
3:10—3:20
Satan encounters Sin and Death--hostile guardians of the gate
c)
Woman
to waist then monstrous 650--pictures--
(1)
Lear 4.6
d)
Death
--shape that had none 670
e)
*She
parts them and reveals incestuous family 727
f)
Recalls
her birth 755 and seduction by Satan--male procreation
g)
Pregnancy
and birth of Death, who then rapes her--classical stories of Gods 790
h)
Emphasis
on sexuality--either perverted here or as idealized
i)
Reconciliation
j)
promising
them dominion on earth-- Opening gate 871
3.
Voyage through Chaos
a)
Universal
anarchy--890-904--contrasted to Nature--the earth hanging from heaven by a
golden chain [astronautical view]
E.
Book III
1.
From chaos to heaven--evoked as light; Milton, the narrator
lives in darkness 23--pathos and consolation
2.
Mode of composing the poem
3.
Contrast Heaven's geography and government with Hell's--345
worship and praise
4.
no doubts; truthful logic--Theological truth 210 and 285
5.
God and Son--Theological explanation
6.
Contrast this relationship with Satan, Sin and Death
7.
*Son's voluntary sacrifice--235
8.
Issue of free will and choice--everything leading up to the
moment of choice-- most important, irreducible, self-defining moments
9.
God understands this with no difficulty, everybody else has
problems with it and is therefore conflicted
10.
God is not conflicted by things that cause humans conflict
F.
3:20—3:35 Book IV
1.
Satan's inner conflict--73 to 110
a)
Effort
at repentance 79
b)
evil
be thou my good 110
2.
Landscape of paradise—246-268
3.
View of Adam and Eve—288-318
a)
Emphasis
on their superiority to animals, his superiority to her--definition of gender
b)
"For
contemplation he and valor formed"--vita contemplativa; vita activa 297
c)
"For
softness she and sweet attractive grace" --vita voluptuosa
d)
"He
for god only, she for god in him" 299
e)
Emphasis on hairdos
f)
Innocent
eroticism--288-315=paradise
g)
335-6:
scoop the brimming stream
4.
Adam's first speech is about the prohibition—411-432
5.
Eve's first speech: 440-491 you are superior, recollecting
her birth and initial self-love 477
6.
Devil's envy and fierce desire 509
a)
7.
Her science questions—knowledge—650-663
8.
Evening prayers. Connubial rites and narrator's paean to
married love 736--776
G. 3:35-3:45 Book V
2.
Eve's dream
a)
What
kind of paradise is this? Milton's interest in Innocence; what is the knowledge
of good and evil? Her tears 130
b)
Satan
eating fruit--many different attractions--make Gods of men; flying and dropping
87
3.
Adam's warning--Reason vs. imagination
4.
Raphael's visit
a)
warning--again
freedom of choice
b)
Eve
Ministers naked 444 and not part of the boys' club--though so attractive
c)
Tells
Adam men may eventually become all spirit 494
d)
Raphael
tells the back story of SatanÕs rebellion—motivation by the appointment
of the viceroy
H. Book VI
1.
The War in Heaven
a)
Epic
narrative
b)
Invention
of gunpower and cannons
I.
3:45-3:55 Book VII
1.
Invocation of heavenly muse; writing at night; evil days of
darkness 1-36
2.
The creation of the world by the Son—this is denial
of BaconÕs insistence on keeping science and religion separate
3.
Differences from Genesis
a)
Done
by the Son--a Christian version of Creation, emphasizing the back story of
Genesis 1
b)
Plurality
of God as he turns into Son and choruses of angels--more grandiose production
c)
Genesis
has two distinct creation stories--in first male and female created equal,
after the animals; in second, Adam created first, then the animals, then Eve.
Milton includes prohibition in his story of sixth day, trying to reconcile two
narratives
(1)
Milton ingeniously deals with the discrepancy by allowing
Raphael's account to concur with Genesis 1, and Adam's to correspond to that of
Genesis 2, and by having Raphael admit that he was not present at Adam's
creation. He further separates the two accounts from each other by placing them
in books 7 and 8, respectively.
4.
natural descriptions—
a)
onomatopoetic
sounds of natural processes, energies and movements;
(1)
Vegetation 310-327
(2)
Fish in sea 399-410
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