Paradise Lost
John Milton, 1667
Held by Standard Ebooks, PG 26read here
Read it here about 6 h of reading
Add to a shelf
Satan and his rebel angels, thrown into Hell after losing a war in Heaven, hold a council and decide to strike back by corrupting the newly made humans. Satan crosses Chaos alone and reaches the Garden of Eden, where he finds Adam and Eve. The angel Raphael warns them and tells of the war in Heaven and the making of the world. Satan returns as a serpent and persuades Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and Adam eats too. A vision from the angel Michael shows them what lies ahead, and the pair leave Eden.
Where it happens
- London Milton was born in Bread Street, London, in 1608, and was buried here in 1674.3
- Cambridge Milton entered Christ's College, University of Cambridge, in 1625 and took his BA in 1629.3
- Naples Milton wanted to leave Naples for Sicily and Greece but went home to England in 1639 as civil war loomed.3
- Westminster Milton married Katherine Woodcock at St Margaret's, Westminster, in 1656.3
Through time
- 1608John Milton is born in Bread Street, London3
- 1652Milton is totally blind and from now on dictates his work13
- 1658The date from which Milton's contemporary Aubrey says the poem was written; Milton's second wife dies1
- 1667First edition in ten books, registered by Samuel Simmons1
- 1674Second edition in twelve books; Milton dies the same year13
Who is in it, and behind it
John Milton Author
English poet who went blind in 1652 and dictated the poem to amanuenses and friends.13
Satan Fallen angel
Leads the rebel angels, speaks as a skilled orator, and tempts Eve in the form of a serpent.1
Adam First man
Eats the fruit knowing it is wrong, which makes him a greater sinner than Eve in Milton's telling.1
Eve First woman
Tempted by Satan, who plays on her vanity; critics read her character in different ways.1
Raphael Archangel
Sent to Eden to strengthen Adam and Eve, and tells the story of the war in Heaven.1
Michael Archangel
Shows Adam a vision of what will happen to mankind until the Great Flood.1
Beelzebub Fallen angel
Aids Satan in organising the rebels in Pandaemonium.1
Samuel Simmons Printer
First registered Paradise Lost for publication in his name in 1667.1
What it is about
A Christian epic in place of a pagan one
Milton invokes a Christian muse and reuses epic conventions to replace the value system of Achilles, Odysseus and Aeneas with Christian virtue.1
Heroism redefined
Pride, wrath and cunning are given to Satan, while the Son is shown as heroic for love, mercy, humility and self-sacrifice.1
Satan's changing mind
Early on he is a sublime leader and orator; by Book IV he is inwardly isolated and laments his state on seeing Eden.1
Free will and justice
Milton explores how humans can fall by deception while angels fell by their own cause, and how God offers redemption.1
Politics under the surface
Milton mourns the end of the Commonwealth after the Restoration of 1660, and the Garden of Eden may reflect his view of England.3
In its own words
Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
I may assert the Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men.
The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.
Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell; And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep Still threatening to devour me opens wide,
Hail, wedded Love, mysterious law, true source Of human offspring, sole propriety In Paradise of all things common else!
but shalt possess A Paradise within thee, happier far.
The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.
The shape of the book
12 chapters, 82,074 words. Point at a bar.
How it came to be here
John Milton, who had gone blind in 1652, dictated this blank-verse epic to helpers and friends. A contemporary biographer says it was written between 1658 and 1663. The first version came out in 1667 in ten books. A second edition in 1674 reorganised the text into twelve books, in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid. Milton set out to build an English, Christian epic in place of the Greek and Roman ones, and to justify the ways of God to men. This site carries the text from Standard Ebooks.
Free to read elsewhere
- Standard Ebooks this edition
- Open Library search editions you can borrow or read
- HathiTrust search full-view scans
- Project Gutenberg search
Sources
Text: PG 26. CC0 (Standard Ebooks).