1. John Milton  1608--1674

2.  poet & pamphleteer  the greatest English poet in the 17 th century  the greatest epic poet in English history ↑ ↑Bronze spelter( 锌 ) castings of Shakespeare and Milton, 1880s

3. John Milton quotes  “The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven”  “Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light” ------- 路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索

4. Contents  I. Life  II. poetic style  III. Milton’s viewpoints  IV. Milton’s Works  V. Paradise Lost  VI. On His Blindness  VII. On his deceased wife

5.  He graduated with  a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1629  ranking 4th of 24 honours graduates  a Master of Arts degree in 1632

6.  While studying at Cambridge, he recognized that poetry and life are closely related.

7.  In 1632 Milton returned to live with his parents.  Milton undertook six years of self-directed private study.

8. Milton: among the most learned of all English poets  Reading of both ancient and modern works of  theology  philosophy  history  politics  literature  science

9.  Good command of  Latin  Greek  Hebrew  French  Spanish  Italian

10.  Many travels in next years to  France  Greece  Italy  Switzerland

11.  In June 1643 Milton married a 16-year-old bride, Mary Powell.  A month later, finding life difficult with the severe 33- year-old schoolmaster and pamphleteer, Mary returned to her family.

12.  With the parliamentary victory in the Civil War, Milton used his pen in defence of the republican principles represented by the Commonwealth.

13.  Cromwell’s death in 1658 caused the English Republic to collapse.  Milton stubbornly clung to the beliefs that had originally inspired him to write for the Commonwealth.

14.  Upon the Restoration in May 1660, Milton went into hiding for his life, while a warrant was issued for his arrest and his writings burnt.

15.  Re-emerging after a general pardon was issued, he was nevertheless arrested and briefly imprisoned before influential friends, such as Marvell intervened.

16. 8 November 1674 St Giles Cripplegate  Milton died of kidney failure on 8 November 1674 and was buried in the church of St Giles Cripplegate.

17. Milton’s Personal Character 11. Love beautiful things. 22. Hard working. 33. Acquire a good knowledge of Latin. 44. Have proud and independent spirit. 55. Have revolutionary spirit. 66. Love freedom.

18. II. John Milton’s attitudes  1. John Milton’s Politics attitude  2. John Milton’s Religion  3. John Milton's attitude toward women and marriage

19. 1. Political attitude  Milton’s political ideals are expressed in the many pamphlets he wrote during his lifetime.

20.  He championed ( 拥护 ) the absolute freedom of the individual — perhaps because he had been so often betrayed by the institutions ( 机构体系 ) in which he put his trust.

21.  His distrust of institutions was accompanied by his belief  that power corrupts human beings.  权力使人腐败堕落。

22. 2. 2. Religion  Milton took public stances on a great number of issues, but most important to the reading of Paradise Lost are his positions on religion.

23.  In Milton’s time, the Anglican Church, or Church of England, had split into  the high Anglican  moderate Anglican  Puritan or Presbyterian sects  Milton was a Presbyterian --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Presbyterian ([.prezbi'tiəriən] 长老会 ( 制 ) 的 )

24. 3. 3. Attitude toward women & marriage  Much of Milton’s social commentary in Paradise Lost focuses on the proper role of women.  In Book IV he makes clear that he does not think  men and women are equals  alluding to biblical passages that identify man as the master of woman.

25.  Milton viewed women as inferior to men.  He believed that wives should be subservient to their husbands.  But he did not see himself as a woman-hater.

26. III. poetic style: Miltonic verse  a highly influential poetic structure popularized by Milton  also known as  Miltonic epic  Miltonic blank verse

27. IV. Milton’s Works Three literary periods:  1.  1. early period: poems written in Cambridge and at Horton;  2.  2. middle-aged period: political articles pamphlets;  3.  3. the period of his old age: three giant works.

28. Milton’s Works of His Early Days Poems written in Cambridge and at Horton:  1. On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, 《基督诞 生晨颂》, first important work.

29. 3. Comus  《科玛斯》  a mask 假面剧  in blank verse

30. 4. Lycidas  《利西达斯》  expressing the pathos( 哀颂 ) of his friend Edward King’s premature death.

31. Works of his adult years:  1.  1. Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce 《离婚的戒律与学说》  2.  2. Areopagitica  《论出版自由》, a prose work for the freedom of the press  3.  3. Defence of the English People 《为英国人民声辩》

32. Milton’s Works of Old Age  1. Paradise Lost (masterpiece) 《失乐园》  2. Paradise Regained 《复乐园》  3. Samson Agonistes 《力士参孙》

33. V. Paradise Lost

34.  1. Milton’s masterpiece, widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in English  Together with Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, it confirms Milton’s reputation as one of the greatest English poets 1. 1. Analysis

35. 2. 2. Type of Work  an epic poem  telling a story about momentous events while incorporating grand themes that are timeless ( 永恒的 ) and universal.

36. 3. Sources 3. Sources  The sources of information and writing models Bible  the Bible Iliad Odyssey (])  Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey ( ['iliəd], [' ɔ disi ]) Aeneid ([)  Vergil’s Aeneid ([ 'i:niid] ) Greco-Roman mythology  the stories in Greco-Roman mythology

37. 4. Forms The poem is in  blank verse, that is, non-rhyming verse  the verse form of iambic pentameter

38.  In this style, a line is composed of  five long, unaccented syllables  each followed by  a short, accented one

39. 5. 5. The themes  (1) to justify the ways of God to man  (2) a revolt against God’s authority  (3) the Importance of Obedience to God

40. (1) (1) to justify the ways of God to man  In doing so, Milton unconsciously moved towards making Satan the hero of Paradise Lost.

41. Paradise Lost: Book I  Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit  Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste  Brought death into the World, and all our woe

42.  the progression of the epic, the forward and backward movements of the epic also justify the theme of justifying God’s ways to man.  In Book I, we can see Satan and his marvelous speeches only.

43.  But in Book IX, Satan is confined to a level of a Serpent only.  So, by diminishing the character of Satan, Milton wants to visualize the real essence of the epic.

44. (2) a revolt against God’s authority  Satan is the most well- developed character in Paradise Lost  Satan as ahero

45. (3) the Importance of Obedience to God  The poet says, “of man’s fist disobedience…”, which means that  the subject that he is going to address is man’s first disobedience  “which brought death into the world”

46. 6. structure  The story was revised into 12 books after initial publication, following the model of the Aeneid of Virgil.

47.  two parts:  one of Satan (Lucifer) ’s rebellion against God  another of the expulsion( 驱逐 ) of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden

48. 7. Summary  Satan and his followers rebel against God.  But God and his mighty angels defeat the rebels in a terrible war.

49.  Moloc, a rebel leader who fought fiercely against the forces of the Almighty, calls for renewed war.

50.  Mammon advises peace  Beelzebub–a majestic, imposing figure–notes that God is creating a new creature, man, who will occupy a new world, earth.

51.  Beelzebub says: If they turn this new creature from his ordained course, using force or trickery, they can enjoy revenge against God.

52.  His plan is the plan of Satan, his master.  The assembly of devils does not respond; they do not know what to say about this proposal.

53.  Then the leader of all the accursed, Satan, speaks up.  He first bemoans their environs: Our prison strong, this huge convex of Fire, Outrageous to devour, immures us round Ninefold, and gates of burning Adamant Barred over us prohibit all egress.

54.  He journeys across chaos till he sees the new universe floating near the larger globe which is heaven.

55.  Satan gains entrance into the Garden of Eden, where he finds Adam and Eve and becomes jealous of them.

57.  Uriel warns Gabriel and his angels, who are guarding the gate of Paradise, of Satan's presence.  Satan is apprehended by them and banished from Eden.

58.  He relates  how the world was created  so  mankind could one day replace the fallen angels in heaven.

59.  Satan returns to earth, and enters a serpent.  Finding Eve alone, Satan successfully tempts Eve by preying on her vanity and tricking her with rhetoric to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree.

60.  Milton portrays Adam as a heroic figure but also as a deeper sinner than Eve since  he is smarter than Eve  knows that what he's doing is wrong

61.  After eating the fruit, Adam at first is convinced that Eve was right in thinking that eating the fruit would be beneficial.

62.  However, they soon fall asleep, having terrible nightmares, and after they awake, they experience guilt and shame for the first time.

63.  Realizing that they have committed a terrible act against God, they engage in mutual recrimination.

64.  The Son of God descends to earth to judge the sinners, mercifully delaying their sentence of death.  Sin and Death, sensing Satan's success, build a highway to earth, their new home.

65.  Adam reconciles with Eve.  God sends Michael to expel the pair from Paradise, but first to reveal to Adam future events resulting from his sin.

66.  However, he is also shown hope  through a vision of Jesus Christ  the possibility of redemption  They are then cast out of Eden.  the archangel Michael says that  Adam may find “A paradise within thee, happier far”

67.  They now have a more distant relationship with God, who is omnipresent but invisible (unlike the previous, tangible, Father in the Garden of Eden).

68. 8. Characterization  God the Father, God the Son  Satan  Adam and Eve

69.  God the Father is portrayed as just but merciful,  condemning the defiant and unrepentant ( 不知悔改的 ) rebel angels  but permitting redemption ( 救赎 ) of the repentant ( 懊悔的 ) Adam and Eve. God the Father, God the Son

70.  God the Son volunteers to redeem ( 救赎 ) them by  becoming human  enduring suffering and death

71.  It was not Milton’s intent, however, to create an admirable character.  Rather his intent was to create a character of colossal hatred ：  loathsome  execrable ( 可憎的 )  incurably remorseless ( 冷酷的 ) Satan

72. + The Image of Satan  (1) Satan is the real hero of the poem.  (2) He is firmer than the rest of the angels.  (3) He has an invincible ( 战无不胜的 ) heart. Who is the most striking character in the poem?

73. ((4) Satan remains superior in nobility and welcomes his defeat and his torments as aa glory, a liberty and a joy.

74.  (5) Satan is the spirit  questioning the authority of God  (6) Milton makes Satan  as his own mouthpiece

75. Adam & Eve  Milton places great emphasis on man’s autonomous reason and free will.

76. 9. Style  dignified, lofty, melodic  free of any colloquialisms and slang that would have limited the work's timeliness and universality

77.  The format, Milton says in an introductory note, is “English heroic verse without rhyme”–in other words, blank verse.

78. VI. On His Blindness  1.  1. Type of Work  2.  2. Theme  3.  3. Meter  4.  4. Figures of Speech

79.  John Milton’s eyesight began to fail in 1644.  By 1652, he was totally blind.  Oddly, he wrote his greatest works, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, after he became blind.

80. 1. 1. Type of Work  a Petrarchan sonnet, a lyric poem with fourteen lines

81. 2. 2. Theme  God judges humans on whether they labor for Him to the best of their ability.  Milton decides to rationalize his fear by seeking solutions in his faith.

82.  Milton’s “On His Blindness” discusses his feelings, fears and doubts regarding his failed sight, which was due to excessive writing and reading different languages.

83.  the most stately ( 庄严的 ) and pathetic ( 感伤的 ) sonnet in existence.  The soul enduring enforced idleness and loss of power without repining ( 抱怨 ).  Inactivity made to serve a higher end.

84. 3. 3. Meter  All the lines are in iambic pentameter. 1 2 3 4 5 || | | When I | con SID | er HOW. | my LIFE | is SPENT 1 2 3 4 5 | | | | Ere HALF | my DAYS | in THIS | dark WORLD | and WIDE

85. 4. 4. Figures of Speech Alliteration:  my days in this dark world and wide (line 2) Metaphor:  though my soul more bent / To serve there with my Maker (lines 3-4).  The author compares his soul to his mind.

86. Personification:  But Patience, to prevent / That murmur, soon replies... (lines 8-9). Paradox:  They also serve who only stand and wait.

87. VII. On his deceased wife  This sonnet was written about the year 1656, on the death of his second wife, Catharine, the daughter of Captain Woodcock of Hackney.

88.  She died in child-bed of a daughter, within a year after their marriage.  Milton had now been some time totally blind.

89.  In this poem John Milton visits his deceased wife in a dream.  In the last line “I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night”, he is saying that as he woke from his sleep it was literally day outside but it was dark to him resembling grief and sadness in his world from the loss of his lover.

90. Meter  All the lines are in iambic pentameter. 1 2 3 4 5 | | | | 'Me THOUGHT | I SAW | my LATE | e SPOUS | ed SAINT 1 2 3 4 5 | | | | Brought TO | me, LIKE | Al CES | tis, FROM | the GRAVE

91. 我仿佛看见我才死去的结发圣女， 送还给我象阿尔克提斯由坟茔返还， 是诺夫的长子强力救她出死亡， 昏厥中还给她欢天喜地的丈夫。 我爱妻，象是洗净了分娩的血污， 按古训洁净之后已将罪赎完， 恰似我深信我仍会又一次在天堂 明明白白地遇见她，无拘无束， 她披一身霜罗，纯洁如心灵。 她蒙着面纱，但是我似乎看见 爱敬、妩媚和善良在她身上晶莹 闪亮，脸上的高兴劲比谁都鲜艳。 然而她正俯身拥抱我，我苏醒， 她飞了，白天又带我回漆黑一片。