John Milton
Three major poetical works:
Paradise lost , Paradise Regained, Samson Agonists
The freedom of the will is the keytone of Milton.s creed.
Paradise Lost
The epic is the masterpiece of John Milton
The story is drawn from the Old Testament of the Bible, which tells how Satan, after being defeated in his rebel against God, temps Adam and Eve to eat the apples for the Forbidden Tree, and causes the Fall of Man.
Satan, in the image of a rebel , still determines to fight back against God when he and his followers are cast into the Hell. The features of the character include his boldness, unbending ambition and his unconquerable will. The poem, as in other writing, is full of biblical and classical allusion, and is in a Latinized style with one sentence running perhaps across several lines. But, the majesty of expression suits well the sublimity of the poet’s thought.
A. 创作
Milton’s literary achievements can be divided into three groups:
a. The early works:
Milton appears as the inheritor of all that was best in Elizabethan literature. Lycidas is a typical example.
b. The middle works:
His powerful pamphlets written during this period make him the greatest prose writer of his age.
Areopagitica is probably his most memorable prose work.
c. The last great poems:
Milton wrote his three major poetical works: Paradise Lost, Paradise regained, and Samson Agonistes.
B. 代表作:
Paradise Lost:
A). The theme and structure:
Paradise Lost is a long epic divided into 12 books. The theme is the “Fall of Man”.
B). The humanistic spirits
a. Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism, Milton wrote Paradise Lost, intending to expose the ways of Satan and to “justify the ways of God to man.”
b. At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritual duty lies Milton’s fundamental concern with freedom and choice.
c. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton’s creed.