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With Paradise Lost, we are making a transition both from the Jacobean plays we have been reading for the past three weeks, and from the Jacobean period into a period that I have defined on our syllabus as that of Charles I, the English Civil Wars and Interregnum, and Charles II.

The English Civil Wars erupted in 1642 as a result of several political and religious factors. Under Charles I, who came into power in 1625, Parliament declined Charles' requests for money for wars with France and Spain. Twice, Charles shut down Parliament: once, in 1625, and once, in 1628, after which England functioned without a Parliament for 11 years.

Puritan factions, who would splinter in the 1640s into a number of religious sects and denominations had also been chafing at the return to more traditional religious practices enforced by the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed by Charles I, Archbishop Laud.

(Those new religious demoninations include Baptists, Seekers, Muggletonians, Diggers, Ranters, the Society of Friends [also known as Quakers], and Congregationalists [called Independents in England; Milton was one].) Those who opposed Charles are variously called Puritans, Parliamentarians, Revolutionaries, Republicans, or the derogatory term, Roundheads; those loyal to Charles are, of course, called Royalists, Loyalists, or sometimes, Cavaliers.

In 1628, Charles' advisor, the Duke of Buckingham, was assassinated by Protestant opposition. In 1641, Charles' Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford, was tried by the Parliament that had been newly convened in 1640, and was executed. Archbishop Laud was executed the same year.

Also, in Scotland, Scots under British rule rioted over having to use the Book of Common Prayer.

The First Civil War

So, in 1641-46, Parliament allied with Scottish Presbyterians against Charles, trying Charles for treason and taking him prisoner. This was the first of three civil wars, variously called the Wars Between Three Kingdoms, the Puritan Revolution, the English Revolution, or the English Civil Wars.

Under Purtian rule, the theatres closed, and Parliament established its own censorship codes. During this time, the newsbook is born; printed publications became cheaper and more plentiful; literacy increased; women, who had leadership roles in Protestant sects, began to publish more and more books and pamphlets: often prophecies or religious and political texts.

The Second Civil War

In 1648, a different Socttish army, allied with Charles (who escaped in 1647) fought for Charles against a Parliament entitled the Rump Parliament (purged of members sympathetic to Charles). The Scottish army is defeated by general Oliver Cromwell. This is the second of the three civil wars. With Charles now in custody, this Parliament voted for Charles' execution. Charles was executed-- beheaded--in 1649. With Charles' execution, the Interregnum (period between kings) began.

The Third Civil War

In 1649-51, the third of the civil wars took place when the same Scottish forces as above waged war, along with Royalists in exile in Ireland, and Charles' son, Charles II. The Scottish forces were defeated.

In 1653, Cromwell dissolved the Parliament that carried out Charles' execution and established a new, essentially powerless Parliament, and declared himself Lord Protector of England, Ireland, and Scotland. Milton worked as a respected advisor for the Cromwellian government.

In 1658, Cromwell died as the Protectorate became weaker. In 1660, Charles II returned from exile to, with relatively little bloodshed, restore the monarchy. The theatres reopened; the new Caroline court was reputed to be quite racy; Parliament had more power than it did under Charles I; and the crown established more religious tolerance exists than it had previously exhibited.

Background, Milton

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During the 1640s and 1650s, Milton's writings were essentially that of a Puritan, decidely anti-Royalist statesman. In the mid 1640s, Milton was probably best known for his writings advocating the right to divorce (he was in a very unhappy marriage). At this point in time, he had also published a slim volume of his collected poems.

But in 1649, Milton countered a hagiographic publication widely distributed among Charles I's followers, Eikon Basilike. If you would like to read about this publication, a posting from class last year on the Eikon Basilike will be of interest to you. Also in 1650, Milton wrote defending the King's execution: a point that nineteenth-century literary critics considered as they read about Satan's rebellion against the monarchy in heaven.

But however Puritan (Independent, or Congregationalist) in politics, Milton's theology on matters of free will, as we will discuss as we read Paradise Lost, is decidely less Calvinist than that of his Puritan contemporaries.

You should know that Paradise Lost was published in 1667, when Milton, an old man, was blind, and out of favor of the monarchy. As a young man, Milton had considered writing an epic on the history of England, probably with King Arthur as the epic hero. But if he is discussing England at all in this epic, he may be doing so only, in part, through metaphor. (If what Milton's nephews and biographers have recorded is correct, Milton wrote this epic between the years that the Cromwellian government he was supporting was falling and the monarchy was being restored.) According to his nephews, Milton dictated his work to a series of amanuenses, including his grown daughters.

About Milton's blindness: Homer is known to be a blind epic writer, and fans of Milton have often pointed out the appropriateness of Milton's blindness to his epic project. Opponents of Milton in his lifetime, too, commented on his blindness: some said that he was struck blind because of his support of regicide. As you read the descriptions of Milton's hell, you'll see many references to darkness and blindness.

Epic and Paradise Lost

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In class, many of you indicated that you had read Paradise Lost (or sections of it) or had read other epics (The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, etc).

But in case you have not read an epic before, or you would like to refresh your memory, here are a few notes that might guide you through your reading of book 1.

Epics, of course, are long narrative poems that comprise some of the world's earliest written literature. In the early modern period (and in the European Middle Ages as well), epics were considered to be the highest form of poetry. Epics generally focus on the adventures of a single hero (Odysseus' 20-year journey home from the Trojan War, for example). The character of epic heroes is often exaggerated--their virtues, strengths, and so forth are of great proportions, as are any vices, and what happens to them is also of great consequence to a given society. Most epics, in some episode or another, feature the hero going in to the underworld and coming back.

A few conventions of epics:

• Epics generally begin with an invocation to the muses to inspire the poet to write or sing of the great events he is about to tell. Lines 1-26 in PL are Milton's invocation not to the classical Muses, but to a Judeo-Christian Godhead. The invocation to the muses is part of a slightly larger set of lines called the epic argument; the epic argument also features an epic question that the rest of the epic will answer--an answer which begins the storytelling. See lines 27-33 and what immediately follows.
• Epics generally begin in medias res (crudely translated, in the middle of things), which means that they begin in the middle of a story and then flash back to earlier events before moving forward to what happens. So, PL begins just after Satan has been thrown by God onto a burning lake in hell (although he does not know that he is in hell yet, stunned as he is). This is punishment for waging an unsuccessful battle in heaven. Later books of PL (which we will not read) detail how the war in heaven got started. Book I, however, mostly recounts how Satan and his other co-conspirators (formerly angels; now demons with names of gods from a range of cultures) gather their wits and organize themselves in hell.
• Epics also generally contain epic similes, which generally begin with "like" or "as," and which are so long that they feel like a digression. If, when you're reading, you think you are lost, look back and see if you are in the middle of an epic simile. Lines 230-38, which compare walking on the burning lake to walking on a lanscape torn by earthquakes and tornadoes, is one example. Keep in mind that all similes (and metaphors) have two parts: a tenor (the thing being described), and a vehicle (the thing being compared to the thing being described). In "my love is like a red, red rose," "my love" is the tenor; "a red, red rose" is the vehicle. In epic similes, the vehicle almost eclipses the tenor. Try to have fun with epic similes as you read; although you may have to catch your place from time to time, the poetry and imagery of some of them is really incredible.
• Epics additionally contain epic catalogues: long rosters, often of significant characters. We saw a mock epic in "Phillip Sparrow" in the catalog of birds to celebrate Sparrow's funeral; the catalog of demons in book 1 is an epic catalog.

Paradise Lost additionally, like the Arcadia and the Tragedy of Mariam, demands attention to long speeches by various characters. You get a chance to "get into" the heads and psyches of the various characters and to analyze their motives and how they speak. As you read, watch for attribution phrases that identify the speaker. Those phrases generally occur at the end of a given paragraph; the appropriate character's speech follows. See, for example, lines 81-83.

The story that Milton ultimately tells--the fall of Adam and Eve and before them, Satan--is one that you already know. That Milton writes his epic in English, also, is quite significant for the history of English verse: Milton certainly could have written his epic in Latin, and although poetry had been occurring in English for quite some time, to write the highest form of verse in English is quite signficant. Note the verse form of PL, as well.

If you have had the luxury to read Paradise Lost in more entirety than we can in the next couple of weeks, by all means, see what new insights you come to as you read portions of the epic this time.

Questions About Book I

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A few questions to guide your reading of book 1, from the specific to the general: