ENGL 345 | Paradise Lost

Considered one of the greatest poems in the English language, John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) is an epic that takes the reader from hell to heaven and everywhere in between. This is a story of identity and purpose within a seemingly infinite cosmos; of human responsibility to knowledge, the earth, and each other; and, especially, of the origins of suffering and injustice, and a blueprint of hope within a grand reconfiguration of what it means to be heroic. In presenting this archetypal narrative -- one that continues to resonate with readers of religious and non-religious persuasions alike -- Milton lifts Adam, Eve, Satan, and a host of demons and angels from their spare figurations in the Bible, and fleshes them out with rich descriptions, interiority, and speeches that in turn take inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman models as well as medieval Christian writings. The course therefore studies not only the entirety of Paradise Lost's twelve books, but also some of the primary source materials with which the poem is built, including excerpts from the Bible, Homer, Virgil, Augustine, Dante, and even Milton's earlier poetry and prose. Because textual influences are always refracted through one's own situation, culture, and reading practices, the course will also attend to some key aspects of Milton's life, especially his public involvement in the turbulent political and religious contexts of seventeenth century England -- contexts that would inevitably shape the imaginative retelling of how deception, betrayal, and violence entered the world in the first place.