Paradise LostJOHN MILTON

Journal – We have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks exploring literature that expresses ideas about death and separation. So, it seems appropriate that we take that discussion a few steps further. Utilizing your personal belief system and/ or your imagination write a sensory rich description of your idea of heaven and hell.

(One page minimum)

A SENSORY LOOK AT HEAVEN AND HELL

Divide into SIX groups Have each group member share their journal – identify

unique sensory descriptions. Groups 1, 3, and 5 will work with sensory descriptions of

Heaven Groups 2, 4, and 6 will work with sensory descriptions of

Hell Now – in groups you are going to create a 10 to 1

sentence summary of your descriptions…you can pull from your journals or add to them as writing…the idea will be to write a 10 word sentence…then a 9 word sentence…all the way down to a single word. This last word should sum up your feelings about the topic…it should be intense. Be prepared to share with the class – bring a copy to me when finished.

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

(10) Beautiful Maggie, my long awaited daughter, how I love you.(9) You smile each morning with such delight and joy.(8) My heart dances to hear you say Mama!(7) You fill my days with sweet laughter.(6) Before you came, I was incomplete.(5) Now, my life is whole.(4) Tears and laughter shared.(3) Holding my hand.(2)Girl mine.(1) Precious.

BEAUTIFUL MAGGIE

Milton and

Paradise Lost

INTRODUCTION:

John Milton: (1608-1674) Born in London – middle class family Highly educated – both formally and informally Very arrogant - actually described HIMSELF as “God’s

Poet” Milton was very disillusioned with the descent of England

into a dictatorship under Cromwell…”…he lost hope in the possibility of forming a just society on Earth.”

Was imprisoned for a time when the monarch was RESTORED

Lost his sight by 1652

MILTON BACKGROUND

Dealing with personal loss – 1. his eyesight 2. his beliefs and dreams for his nation “Blind, disgraced, and disillusioned”

Milton set out to write a story that would “retell the central story of his culture” and “that would explain why God allows suffering in this world.”

Justify the ways of God to men Provide answers for why Bad things

happened to Good people

MILTON’S REASONS FOR WRITING – PARADISE LOST

"But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the

rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And

Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was

taken out of Man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they

shall become one flesh." - Genesis 2

The Story of Adam and Eve

Adam & Eve After God created Adam, He gave to him dominion over all His creation and the garden of Eden as a home to tend it and keep it. But He gave one restriction:

Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Adam would know what it meant to participate in evil, and the result would be banishment and death. Death is separation from God.

The Story of Adam and Eve

Then God created the woman: Gen 2:18-24 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.

The Story of Adam and Eve

But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

The Story of Adam and Eve

The FallAdam loved Eve, but she was later seduced by the serpent, who was actually Satan, the one who rebelled against the Most High God and the one who leads the evil spirits in their rebellion against the Kingdom of Heaven and God's purposes. Eve was deceived and she ate of the forbidden fruit (the Bible doesn't say what kind of fruit it was). Then Adam, who was with her, chose to eat of the fruit also and they sinned. When they sinned, spiritual and physical death came into the world and fellowship with God was broken. Like a rose being plucked off the vine, they were immediately disconnected from their source of life. You can almost see the shame and guilt and fear of their new nature taking over:

The Story of Adam and Eve

Gen 3:7-10 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

The Story of Adam and Eve

The Lamb of God A Covering For SinBut all was not lost. As God was revealing the consequences of their actions He also gave a glorious promise. God promised Adam and Eve that He would send a Redeemer (Messiah), who would destroy Satan and restore them to a right relationship with Him (Gen 3). In the meantime they could only approach God with a blood sacrifice. This animal acted as a substitute for the penalty of sin until "the lamb of God" who is Jesus Christ would come and pay the full debt. Genesis 3:21 "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

The Story of Adam and Eve

Cast out of the Garden:The Bible reveals that because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit sin and death entered the world. The Lord cast Adam and Eve from the garden, and from the tree of life. He placed Cherubim and a flaming sword, turning in every direction, to guard the entrance to the tree of life.

The Story of Adam and Eve

Genesis 3:22-24 - "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

The Story of Adam and Eve

Now – lets “Shed some more light” on the epic work of Mitlon by READING pp. 462-463 in Prentice Hall Literature – The British Tradition

“Making ‘Darkness Visible’: Milton’s Epic Ambition

PARADISE LOST

Antihero: In fiction, an antihero (sometimes antiheroine as feminine) is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're supposed to be one. Some consider the word's meaning to be sufficiently broad as to additionally encompass the antagonist who (in contrast to the archetypal villain) elicits considerable sympathy or admiration.

Readers begin to admire the determination of the bad guy!!

ENTER THE ANTIHERO

Milton wrote Paradise Lost as an inverted epic or anti-epic. He has twisted and reversed the epic conventions to conform them to his retelling of the Biblical account of Creation and the Fall as given in Genesis. He does this to give an account of his own Christian worldview. Accordingly, Satan can rightly be called the hero, or more accurately, the anti-hero. Like the gods, Milton has set up Satan as a tragic hero in order to destroy him. For all his

grandeur, Satan suffers from the ultimate fatal flaw, at least in terms of Milton’s Christianity: his inability both to recognize his sinful nature and to accept the forgiveness God makes readily available. Thus, Milton turns

Satan into a metaphor for the ultimate sinner; that is, the human being who acts on his own will alone and adamantly refuses God’s readily

available offer of forgiveness and salvation. In Milton’s eyes, such a person has repeated Satan’s error and willfully and foolishly given up God’s

promise to his creatures, the promise of eternal life in the paradise of the Creator’s presence. For a Christian like Milton, such a person deserves

Satan’s fate.

PARADISE LOST – ANTI-EPIC

John Milton’s

AND NOW… ON P. 469…