Paradise Lost explained: How John Milton wrote his epic religious poem from Satan’s point of view

by Finn Patraic

When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. However, this does not influence our evaluations.

“”Lost paradise is one of the books that the reader admires and goes to bed, and forgets to resume, “wrote Samuel Johnson at the end of the 18th century.” No one has ever wished it any longer than it is. His reading is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instructions, we retreat harassed and overloaded, and we are looking elsewhere; We desert our master and seek companions. These almost two and a half centuries later, how many of us try to seek Milton's instruction in the first place? Haloche thanks to His new video above.

The first thing to know about Milton's epic poem, says Haloche The host Tommie Trelawny is that he “tells the story of the biblical fall of man – but curiously, from the point of view of Satan”. Even if it never came to your mind so that your eyes Lost paradiseYou have almost certainly heard one of the most memorable statements in Satan: “Better to reign in hell, then serve in the sky.”

Skills for your future. Online courses from $14.99." target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener nofollow"> Udemy – Top courses 80 % off

There is a decent chance that you have also run on another: “The mind is its own place, and in it. You can make a heavy hell, a Heav'n hell ”, perhaps without knowing which character tells him. But if you hear enough of his quotible quotes, you might start thinking that this comrade of Satan makes good points after all.

Lost paradise Had a similar effect on some of his first readers fearing God, who made it possible to wonder who really wondered the Milton side. What the poem seems to glorify, when it is read today, is not Satan, and it is not even so much God or man as language itself. Now, like then, the baroque grammar of Milton and the strongly Latin vocabulary constituted a good part of the dispute of work and its attraction. He is just as notable his obvious conviction that language is up to the task of the most fundamental truths, questions and contradictions. Satan may not come out victorious – and certainly do not do it at the end of the future, Paradise has found – But if it happens that he has the best lines, it simply reflects our greater and completely human fascination for the bad guys more than good.

Related content:

Skills for your future. Online courses from $14.99." target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener nofollow"> Udemy – Top courses 80 % off

John Milton's only surviving manuscript Lost paradise Is published in the form of a book for the first time

William Blake's Hallucinatory illustrations by John Milton Lost paradise

The hand of John Milton's hand annotated from the first folio of Shakespeare: a new discovery by a Cambridge scholarship holder

SPENSER AND Milton (free lessons)

A biblical apocalypse survival guide

Has Babel's tower really existed?: A look at archaeological evidence

Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.