Renaissance literature :assignment -sem 1

Assignment

Name : Rita Dabhi

Sem : 1

Roll no. : 28

Enrollment no. : 2069108420200007

Topic : Themes of PARADISE LOST

Batch : 2019-2021

Submitted : Department of English

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar university

∆THEMESOF  PARADISE LOST

∆ Brief introduction about author :

   ∆    John Milton :

He was born on 9th December 1608 and died on 8 November 1674. He was English poet , pamphleteer and historian .John Milton and Shakespeare are the two figures that tower conspicuously above the goodly leadership fellowship of men who have made our literature famous . He was a rare combination of scholar and businessman a radical puritan in politics and religion and lover of art and literature .  He gets a brief course at the famous ST. Paul School in London was the prelude to Milton's entrance to Christ's College Cambridge .He was well known for his Paradise Lost , written in blank verse. In his entire life Milton wrote many great work like ,

• "Paradise lost" ( published: 1667)
• "Comus" (1634)
• "Lycidas"1637)
• "Paradise regained"
• "Of education"
• "Samson Agonistes " etc.

∆ Paradise lost :

     Paradise Lost is an epic in a blank verse. It was finished in 1665 after 7 years labor in the darkness. With great difficulty he found a publisher and for the great work, the first version of Paradise Lost published in 1667, now the paradise lost is the most honoured poem in our literature. The epic poem concerned with the biblical story of the "Fall of man" and a noble invocation for light and divine guidance . Then beginning the account of Satan and the rebel Angels, their banishment from heaven , and also temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden . In the Paradise Lost book IX is the story of temptation by Satan following the account in Genesis .in book IX of Paradise Lost is the most crucial one for understanding milton's presentation of the disobedience and fall of man . The book X records the divine judgement upon Adam and Eve shows the construction by sin and death of highway through to the earth shaitan returns to pandemonium.  Adam and Eve repent of their disobedience and Satan and his angels are returns into serpents . Book XI The Almighty accepts Adam's repentance but condemned him to be banished from Paradise. Book XII Adam and Eve are comforted by hearing of the future redemption of their race . The poems ends they wonder forth out of Paradise and the door close behind them . So this is the story of Paradise Lost, so let's discuss the themes of paradise lost ,

∆ various themes of paradise lost :

      

• Disobedience :-

        Disobedience is the first major theme of the paradise lost . The title of the poem Paradise Lost itself suggest that the  poem's main theme will be "man's first disobedience". even though he refers to men's disobedience in the first line of the epic itself he deals with it only in book IX ,

"Of man's first disobedience ,and the fruit of that forbidden tree was the moral test brought death into the world and all our woe"

And here Milton was narrated the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience . Here in the poem we find the Milton's argument upon disobedience and obedient. In the preface to his book Milton says that he has to perform "a sad task " and change the "notes to tragic ". Here is a concept of heroism is a totally different from that of the martial  spirit of the old epics and the chivalry of the mediaeval romances . In the paradise lost we find that Milton's imagination of universe is heaven is top , hell is the bottom and the earth is in between hierarchical place . The paradise lost present two moral part third one can take after disobedience the downward spiral of increasing sin and degradation, , represented by Satan . and road to redemption is represented by Adam and Eve . And also find that Eve and Adam are the first humans  to disobey God and God's first creation of disobey is Satan . In the first part of the paradise lost Milton was saw that disobedience leads to breakdown of hierarchical or social order with the consequences. And Milton was said that obeying an inferior and disobedient is a superior . When eating the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve acquire knowledge of the discerning type but it also brings them inconveniences. They realise for the first time that they are naked and it is a wrong to move about in that state. Adam has lost his glorious innocence . Adam has to exercise his free will in the right direction , of worshipping God chooses to violate God's command. Force upon a free will has no place  in heaven. Adam's relationship with God, Eve's relationship with Adam, all these are governed by free will being used properly the obscuring of reason lead to his Fall . Disobedience and disruption of the correct order result in sin and death .

∆ Justification of ways of God to man:-

            Internal problem providence change the story two different level . And in the world Death note come but sacrifice of son step forward with the open offer himself to death in order to defeat Death. And through the son God able to give divine justice with salvation and mercy without the Fall of man the divine of the grass and love would never demonstrated . And also we know that in the Paradise Lost Eve and Adam was an only responsible for fall of men. And they are disobeyed God, mercy ,grace and salvation through the all mankind , actually another way we find there the Fall of man is producing the new love from God to men . Through this theme Milton was given the final idea that the son's sacrifice with overcomes death gives men  the new chance to achieve salvation. As Adam was said that,

" O goodness infinite ,goodness immense !/that all this good of evil  shall produce /and I will turn to good".(XII 469+471)   

The Evil turns into good and The Fall of man's fact shows the justice of God's action . And God was the superior thing in the universe and should always obeyed in the paradise lost .

∆ Hierarchical nature of the universe :

        

          Milton's Paradise Lost is about much as it is about obedience . In his Paradise Lost Milton's  imagination of universe is the heaven is above hell is below and the earth is a middle . Entire universe hierarchy based on proximity to God and his grace . And we find this spatial hierarchy lead to social hierarchy like human beings animals Angels and also devil (Satan). And in Milton's Paradise Lost book XI , XII we find many examples of disobedience to God and the universe hierarchy . And also we find that humankind is a corruption God's hierarchy before The Fall of Eve  and Adam .

* To sum up :-

              Milton's Paradise Lost is a colossal epic , not of a man or a hero,  but of a whole race of men . And in the paradise lost we find that the diction in book IX has an approximation to the spoken language. The verge here is a simple and direct with its particular range of sensibility . Here Milton feels that man's fall is tragic . After having described the traditional bliss  of men and women in book IV he now should present theory fall in book IX . By transgressing God's command Adam brings into this world Sin , death and misery . And apart from these themes we find other themes like same bride and innocence. And book IX of Paradise Lost is the most crucial one of the understanding Milton's presentation of disobedience and fall of man .