Paradis Lost by Milton
Paper details:
Choose ONE of the following topics and write a brief essay (2-3 well developed paragraphs should suffice). Draw from the text of Paradise Lost to support your contentions. Double spaced is fine. 1. In the beginning of Book IX, Milton claims his subject is “Not less but more heroic” (14) than any of his epic predecessors. Discuss what Milton considers “heroic” (you might as a way of drawing distinctions also discuss a false example of heroism in the epic). 2. Relying on specific allusions to one of his epic predecessors (Homer, Virgil, or Dante or, more generally, the Greek or Roman tradition), discuss Milton’s use of and/or revision of that predecessor. 3. Agree, disagree, or modify: “Milton follows traditional / conservative Christian teachings in depicting Eve as the weaker sex who is primarily responsible for our fall from grace; she remains wholly subordinate to Adam throughout the epic.” 4. The great opening invocation to the poem, while focusing on the fruit of “man’s disobedience,” also mentions the coming of Christ to “Restore us, and regain the blissful seat” (I. 5). Discuss some ways that the story of Paradise Lost is also a story of how Adam and Eve regain paradise. The focus of this topic should be Book X of the epic.