Paradise Lost Context Flashcards
When was Paradise Lost published?
1674
What period was Paradise Lost written in?
The Restoration Period
What was the Restoration Period?
The Restoration Period (1660–1688) in English history marks the reign of King Charles II and the re-establishment of the monarchy after the English Civil War and the Interregnum under Oliver Cromwell.
- Charles I, Cromwell, Charles II
What is interregnum?
The period between one royal ruler and the next.
Other Satans are static compared to the dynamic Satan in PL.
In Dante’s Inferno written in 1321, Satan is an immobile and mute monster in the 9th circle of hell that chews on the biggest traitors in history for eternity.
Milton meets Galileo
He also had ideologies which were controversial at the time, marking himself as an outsider in his field of science. Galileo changed the perspective of the universe from a God-centered universe to a Heliocentric one.
Milton was a puritan which is..
A puritan is a radical protestant, believing in the absolute authority of the biblical scripture. They aimed to remove unnecessary hierarchy in the church, and just connect God to man. (Doesn’t believe in the divine right of kings.)
Paradise Lost is considered an allegory for..
The failure of the Puritan Revolution
What is renaissance literature?
Literature written in the renaissance period of the 14th to 17th century. This еra was charactеrisеd by a rеvival of intеrеst in classical lеarning, art and litеraturе, inspired by ancient Grееk and Roman civilisations.
K.Over says that Milton had a strong belief in personal autonomy and freedom
Which is expressed through his stance on divorce (freeing yourself from a constraining force)
What is the etymology of ‘Satan’
It means ‘accuser’ or ‘adversary’ in Hebrew
Milton’s ‘Doctrine of Discipline and Divorce’
Milton’s treatise argues for the legalization of divorce. It acknowledges the hierarchal nature of marriage due to Puritan beliefs, but argues that a marriage that stifles free will violates God’s intentions for human relationships.
Milton’s ‘Tenure for King’s and Magistrates’
Defends the rights of people to hold their rulers accountable
Milton’s ‘Areopagitica’
Argues against the censoring of free speech
What happened to Milton after the restoration of the monarchy?
He was imprisoned
