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JOHN MILTON - Paradise Lost

letteratura inglese



JOHN MILTON


John Milton was born in London in 1608 into an educated family. He studied at St. Paul's school and later at Christ's college, in Cambridge, where he wrote in Latin, Italian, English and Greek.

He was fascinated by Italian culture and writers like 232d36c Dante and Petrarch influenced his first works, L'Allegro e Il Penseroso. His father wanted him to take religious order, but he refused when Cardinal Laud romanized the Anglican ritual. In 1634 he wrote Comus, about the importance of chastity, and Lycidas on the death of a friend of him.

In 1638 Milton went to Italy where he met Galilei and other learned people, but had to come back to England when the civil war broke out. He was a supporter of Oliver Cromwell.

In 1644 Milton wrote Aeropagitica in which advocated liberty of speech and liberty of the press.

In 1649 he wrote Tenure of Kings and Magistrates in which he justified the execution of Charles I. Parliament enjoyed this work and named him Foreign Secretary in the new Commonwealth and became private secretary of Cromwell. He wrote Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio and Pro Populo Anglicano Secunda  Defensio, both in Latin. In 1643 Milton had also written Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, as a result of his sad marriages. In fact he had got married three times, but only the last one was his happiest. When the monarchy was restored Milton lost his job and risked to lose his life too. He became blind and produced his greatest works. He wrote Paradise Lost, followed by Paradise Regained, about Satan's temptation on Christ. His last great work is Samson Agonistes, a story about a blind hero who takes revenge on his enemies by pulling down the temple of their heads. Milton died in 1674 after being cared for his wife and daughters.




Paradise Lost


At the beginning it was composed by 10 books, but Milton added two more in second edition.

In book I Satan, expelled from Heaven, lives in hell. He summons the rebel Angels for taking revenge on God: he wants to corrupt the Man. So he leaves the hell and reaches the Garden of Eden. He tries to tempt Eve, but Archangel Raphael saves her.

In book V and VI Raphael warns Adam and Eve to beware of Satan's temptation. In book Ix Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. They are sent out of Paradise and punished with the presence of sorrow and work in their lives. In the last two books Adam and Eve hope on the arrive of the Son of God for delivering them from sin.




SONNET- ON HIS BLINDNESS


The primary theme of the sonnet is the blindness of the poet. He became blind in the third period of his production. In the first line there is a metaphor, LIGHT, that stands for SIGHT and for LIFE.

Spent has two different meaning:

- used up (consumata);

- for consonance with Italian is SPENTA.

The second line remembers the first line of Dante's Divina Commedia. Here there is a sound device: the alliteration of "D" and "W".

With the phrase "DARK WORLD" the poet expresses the world in which he lives that is full of sins. The contrast between LIGHT and DARK underline the inferiority of the poet because of he can't see. 



The word TALENT, in the third line has two different meaning:

- For consonance with Italian (talento) it means ABILITY, GIFT;

- Literary it means COIN, connected with puritan theory and importance of work.

By analyzing this line (3), the poet want to express an important concept, that is everyone receives gift that must be exploited. By referring to the parable of three servants, the poet identify himself in the third one because God asks him why he isn't exploited the poetic talent he has received.

The poet answers that even though he is sure to serve God, he doesn't exploit his talent at best because he can't see.

TALENT is a specific word connected with trade together with ACCOUNT and DAY-LABOUR (this is also a metaphor for WORK).  He uses these words to suggest a transaction between God and man. ACCOUNT in this context means the total value of Milton's life and work.

Then the poet asks the Patience (there is a personification) if God measures actual work done by people with a disability.

YOKE is a device worn by some animals by which their master can direct them, so it stands for BONDAGE. In this case this word symbolizes the complex relationship between God and Man; in fact for the puritans God is seen as a master of men whose purpose in life is to serve him. If people don't oppose God's directions but follows them, their yoke becomes mild and they serve him best, and so got the salvation.

The sonnet is divided into:

- an octave, which theme is the blindness and at the same time there is a sort of complain;

- a sestet which theme is the resignation.






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