Paradise Lost

:For the UK Goth metal band, see Paradise Lost (band).

Response and criticism

This epic has generally been considered one of the greatest works in the English language. However, since it is based upon scripture, its significance in the literary canon has first been reinterpreted and later dwindled with the dominance of secularism among the western intelligensia. In The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake commented:

Related Topics:
Literary canon - Secularism - William Blake

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:The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it.

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Blake's became the most common reinterpretation of the work in secular universities in the early half of the twentieth century, but among some groups such as evangelical Christians, there is no such reinterpretation. Rather, such groups would uphold the theology of Paradise Lost insofar as it conforms to the passages of Scripture on which it is based.

Related Topics:
Secular - Twentieth century - Evangelical - Christians - Scripture

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Evangelical Christians aside, the latter half of the twentieth century saw the critical understanding of Milton's epic shift to a more political and philosophical focus. Rather than the Romantic conception of the Devil as the hero of the piece, it is generally accepted that Satan is presented in terms that begin classically heroic, then diminish him until he is finally reduced to a dust-eating serpent unable even to control his own body. The political angle enters into consideration in the underlying friction between Satan's conservative, hierarchal views of the universe and the contrasting "new way" of God and the Son of God as illustrated in Book III. In contemporary critical theory in other words, the main thrust of the work becomes not the perfidy or heroism of Satan, but rather the tension between classical conservative "old testament" hierarchs (evidenced in Satan's worldview, and even in that of the archangels Raphael and Gabriel), and "new testament" revolutionaries (embodied in the Son of God, Adam, and Eve) who represent a new system of universal organization based not in tradition, precedence, and unthinking habit, but in sincere and conscious acceptance of faith on the one hand, and on station chosen by ability and responsibility. Naturally, this critical mode makes much use of Milton's other works and his biography, grounding itself in his personal history as an English revolutionary and social critic.

Related Topics:
Romantic - Devil - Satan - Conservative - Hierarchal - God - Son of God - Archangel - Raphael - Gabriel - Adam - Eve

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Paradise Lost has had a profound impact on writers, artists and illustrators, and, in the twentieth century, filmmakers. In the late 1970s, the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki wrote an opera based on Paradise Lost, and Sergei Eisenstein thought it perfect material for epic film. The epic was also one of the inspirations for Philip Pullman's trilogy of novels His Dark Materials. In Pullman's introduction, he adapts Blake's line to quip that he himself "is of the Devil's party and does know it." The Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave has quoted from Paradise Lost many times in his lyrics. Contemporary composer Eric Whitacre and lyricist David Noroña are currently working on a project entitled Paradise Lost: Opera Electronica http://www.paradiselosttheopera.com, an electronic opera based on Paradise Lost.

Related Topics:
1970s - Polish - Composer - Krzysztof Penderecki - Opera - Sergei Eisenstein - Philip Pullman's - His Dark Materials - Australian - Singer-songwriter - Nick Cave - Eric Whitacre - David Noroña

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