Paradise Lost Context Flashcards

Question

“I will increase your pain when you give birth. … You will long for your husband. And he will rule over you.”

Answer 1

Genesis Adam and Eve fall into sin

Answer 2

Genesis Adam and Eve fall into sin

Answer 3

Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris (excessive pride or self-confidence), fate, and the will of the gods. Aristotle says a tragic hero has a powerful wish to achieve a goal/ambition Should have a flaw (hamartia) Should make some mistake Must undergo a change or reversal in fortune (peripeteia) May achieve some anagnorisis (revelation, recognition, or discovery) about fate, destiny, and the will of the gods “A change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate” Plot must have some pathos (suffering), and also peripeteia (reversal) and anagnorisis (recognition) to be both single and complex

Answer 4

Milton drew on the tradition of epic poetry established by Greeks and Romans Epic - originally, long poems that were sung alongside a lyre in poetic metre in Greek, featuring heroes and gods Conventions - invocation to the muses, divine intervention, heroism, epic similes (very long, detailed similes, usually to describe someone in battle)

Answer 5

Opposed licensing, following The Licensing Order of 1643 Parliament required authors to have a license approved by the government before their work could be published Principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression - “For this is not the liberty which we can hope, that no grievance ever should arise in the Commonwealth - that let no man in this world expect; but when complaints are freely heard, deeply considered and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men look for”

Answer 6

Shortly after marrying, Milton’s wife left him and returned to living with his mother The legal statutes of England did not allow for Milton to apply for a divorce, so Milton had to promote the lawfulness of divorce “The soberest and best governed men are at least practised in these affairs; and who knows not that the bashful muteness of a virgin may oftimes hide all the unliveliness and natural sloth which is really unfit for conversation?”

Answer 7

Milton defends the right of people to execute a guilty sovereign, whether tyrannical or not Explains what the role of a king is and conversely what a tyrant is, and why it is necessary to limit a ruler’s power through laws and oaths “If men within themselves would be govern’d by reason, and not generally give up their understanding to a double tyrannie, of Custom from without, and blind affections within, they would discern better, what it is to favour and uphold the Tyrant of a Nation”

Answer 8

Condemns the ‘traitorous’ books which justifies Charles I’s ‘murder’ Demands them to be burned

Answer 9

A list of aberrations Women: Ambition, “Conceit that wives are their husbands equals”, “Inward despising of her own husband”, “A stout standing on her own will”, “Refusing to go when he calls”, “Discontent at her husband's estate” Men: Want of wisdom and love, “Too meane account of wives”, “Conceit of his wife to be the worst of all”, “Harsh, proud and bitter speeches, to and of his wife”, “Losing of his authority”, “A careful neglect of his wife”

Answer 10

A hierarchy God - > Angels - > Kings - > animals - > plants - > rocks - > satan

Answer 11

Political and religious doctrine that states that monarchs receive their authority directly from God, and are therefore not subject to any earthly authority Cromwell believed that he was following God’s will

Answer 12

Fortunate fall Brought the blessing of redemption