JohnMiltonParadiseLost分析
Paradise Lost
Theme：
the main idea of the poem is the heroic revolt against god's authority. to justify the ways of God to men Milton constantly reminds us of our sins, or rather of the fact that we are sinners in a fallen world. 这首诗的主旨是英雄起义反对上帝的权威。 证明了上帝到人的过程 弥尔顿不断提醒我们的罪,或者更确切的说是,我 们是罪人在一个堕落的世界。 宣泄了王朝复辟后的内心苦楚与无奈以及对资产 阶级革命始终不渝的态度。
1.由上帝创造的第一个人类。认为是上帝珍贵的创 造。 2、遵守所有的生物的规则世界，和他的妻子驻留 在伊甸园。 3、加入夏娃违背上帝。
பைடு நூலகம்
E ve ：
1.The second human created by God, taken from one of Adam's ribs and shaped into a female form of Adam. 2. The model of a good wife, and happily submissive to Adam. 3.Is tempted by Satan to sin against God 1.由上帝创造的第二个人类,是从亚当的一根肋骨, 形成女性形式的亚当。 2.是一个典型的好妻子,并愉快地顺从亚当。 3.被撒旦诱惑得罪上帝
With suppliant knee, and deify his power, Who from the terror of this arm so late Doubted his empire; that were low indeed. That were an ignominy and shame beneath This downfall; since by Fate the strength of gods And this empyreal substance cannot fail; Since through experience of this great event
Paradise Lost《失乐园》
God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve about Satan. He relates how the world was created so mankind could one day replace the fallen angels in heaven.
Lucifer and Satan
Lucifer ~ the name by which Satan is known before his fall from Heaven. The name is Latin, meaning "light-bearer." See Satan
Satan ~ generally acclaimed as the most compelling and complex character in the epic, Satan becomes known by this name (which means "enemy" or "adversary" in Hebrew) after his expulsion from Heaven. Formerly he was called Lucifer and was one of the highest ranking angels, but envy drove him to rebel against God.
1ParadiseLost-JohnMilton-失乐园
《失乐园》节选Nine times the space that measures day and night依照人间的计算，大约九天九夜，To mortal(凡人的) men, he with his horrid(可怕的,恐怖的)crew 他和他那一伙可怕的徒众Lay vanquished(征服,击败), rolling in the fiery(火的) gulf (深渊,深坑)沉沦辗转在烈火的深渊中Confounded(狼狈的) though immortal: But his doom(厄运,毁灭) 虽属不死之身，却象死者一样横陈；Reserved him to more wrath(愤怒,狂怒); for now the thought但这个刑罚反激起他更大的忿怒，Both of lost happiness and lasting pain既失去了幸福，又受无尽痛苦的煎熬。
Torments(折磨) him; round he throws his baleful(哀伤的) eyes他抬起忧虑的双眼，环视周遭，That witnessed huge affliction(苦恼, 折磨) and dismay摆在眼前的是莫大的隐忧和烦恼，Mixed with obdurate(顽固的) pride and steadfast(不变的) hate: 顽固的傲气和难消的憎恨交织着。
At once as far as angels ken(看到) he views霎时间，他竭尽天使的目力，望断The dismal(凄凉的) situation waste and wild,际涯，但见被风弥漫，浩渺无限，A dungeon(地牢) horrible, on all sides round四面八方围着他的是个可怕的地牢，As one great furnace(火炉,熔炉) flamed, yet from those flames象一个洪炉的烈火四射，但那火焰No light, but rather darkness visible却不发光，只是灰蒙蒙的一片，Served only to discover sights of woe(悲哀;悲痛)可以辨认出那儿的苦难景况，Regions of sorrow, doleful(令人伤心的)shades, where peace悲惨的境地和凄怆的暗影。
《失乐园》中撒旦形象的双重性分析
An Analysis of the Dual Character of Satan’s Image inParadise Lost《失乐园》中撒旦形象的双重性分析[摘要]在约翰.弥尔顿所有的著作中，《失乐园》是最复杂，最难理解的一部作品，并为他赢得了永久的荣誉。
在《失乐园》中，撒旦的形象是最生动，逼真的，他的巨大影响力和矛盾的情感，以及其复杂性，掩盖了其他所有的形象包括上帝。
作为《失乐园》中最重要的形象，撒旦显然是令人钦佩的，而且有着巨大的影响，这种矛盾的情感吸引了众多批评家的目光，引起了几个世纪的争论。
这篇论文将要把撒旦的双重形象分成三种类型进行分析：第一种类型是把撒旦作为革命者的形象；第二类是把撒旦作为魔鬼的形象进行分析；第三类是以评论家的观点，保持中立，认为撒旦的形象，除了是由人们构想的，是抽象的以外，撒旦带给我们更多的是好与坏的混合体。
而且本论文还将要查明影响撒旦双重性格形象的因素，从分析正文看作者的写作意图；从十七世纪的社会背景看弥尔顿个人的经历和信仰。
更多的是那些潜在的读者的背景和他们独特的欣赏力，也被作者考虑在内。
所有的这些分析得出的观点是，撒旦是一个仅有的英雄和一个真正的恶魔，从他所有的看法和情感得到一个多方面的性格。
他的矛盾情感鲜明的遍及整个诗篇。
[关键词] 《失乐园》撒旦革命者魔鬼清教徒An Analysis of the Dual Character of Satan’s Image inParadise Lost[Abstract]All of John Milton’s great works. Paradise Lose is the most complicated and most profound one, which wins him endless honor. The image of Satan in Paradise Lost is supreme vivid, powerful, ambivalent and complex, overshadowing all the other characters including God.As the main character of Paradise Lost, Satan is obviously impressive and powerful, whose ambivalence catches all critics’ eyes and leads to centuries’ disputes. This dissertation will analyze the dual character of Satan’s image into three groups: The first group that the image of Satan as a revolutionist, the second group that the image of Satan as a devil, while the third group of critics, stand in the middle, seeing both sides of Satan. They identify Satan either as an abstract conception or else, more immediately, as someone who is an evil mixed with good. On the other hand, check the factors that influence his dual character of image, from the analysis of the text to the author’s intention, from the 17th century social background to Milton’s personal experiences and belief. What’s more, the potential readers’ background and individual taste will also be taken into consideration. And all these analysis lead to the point that it is too simple and arbitrary to say Satan is a mere hero or a pure devil, since he is a round character full of thoughts and emotions. His ambivalence is obviously throughout the whole poem.[Key Words]Paradise Lose Satan revolutionist devil puritanContentsIntroductionChapter 1 The Bual Character of Satan’s Image1.1 The Image of Satan as a Revolutionist1.1.1 Sadan owns the spirit of hero as a revolutionist1.1.2 Sadan’s wisdom and emotion1.2 The Image of Satan as a Devil1.2.1 Sadan is vicious and furious1.2.2 Sadan’s other wrong deedsChapter 2 Historical Factors Contributing to the Dual Character of Satan’s Image2.1 The Influence of the puritan movement2.2 The Influence of the restorationChapter 3Potential Readers’ Influence on the Formation of the Dual Character of Satan’s Image3.1 Puritans’ view of Satan3.2 Revolutionists’ idea of Satan3.3 Neutral modernists’ interpretation of SatanConclusionAcknowledgementReferencesAn Analysis of the Dual Character of Satan’s Image inParadise LostIntroductionJohn Milton, one of the greatest poets of the English language, is a political commenter of the English Bourgeois Revolution, whose importance is acknowledged all over the world. His powerful, rhetoric prose and the eloquence of his poetry had an immense influence especially on the 18th century verse. He is the last rearguard of the Renaissance and the primary promoter of Enlightenment and he is the love of every form of human culture and the steadfast devotion to duty as the highest object in human life have shaped his entire career.Of all his great works, Paradise Lost is the most complicated and most profound one, which wins him endless honor. It is indeed the only generally recognized epic in English literature since Beowulf and a heroic poem in Renaissance style. It recounts the story of Satan's rebellion against God, and of the disobedience and fall of Adam and Eve. It deals with revolt from God, with sin and fall, and with the possible salvation. It presents the author’s views in an allegoric religious form, and readers will easily discern its basic idea—exposure of the ways of Satan and justification of the ways of God to men. It is a reflection of the reactionary forces of Milton’s time and the passionate appeal for freedom.As the main character of Paradise Lost, Satan is obviously impressive and powerful, whose ambivalence catches all critics’ eyes and leads to centuries’ disputes. Those critics can be classified into three groups. The first group mainly consists of revolutionists.They traditionally read this epic with strong political inclination, thinking Satan as the protagonist and considering him a symbol of revolution (Fowler 45). They are generally called pro-Satanists. They think Satan is infinitely superior to man, entirely different from the devil of the miracle plays, and completely overshadowing the hero both in interest and in manliness (Danielson 134). The secondgroup is formed by the anti-Satanists. They follow the theme of sense and regard Satan’s hubris without sense as the cause of his own tragedy. They view Satan as an absolute devil, the root of our immense pain from generation to generation. Though his lingering traces of angelic nature and his assertion of implacable defiance at the beginning of the poem disguise him as a righteous liberator, it can’t change Satan’s evil nature (Huang Delin 52). He is doomed to destruction by the flaw of self-love and over-ambition. Both pro-Satanists and anti-Satanists have evidence to support their statements, but neither of them can prove their points of view with sufficient details. While the third group of critics, such as John Carey, stand in the middle, seeing both sides of Satan. They are apt to believe that Satan’s ambivalence is intended by Milton to achieve depth (Danielson 160). They identify Satan either as an abstract conception or else, more immediately, as someone who is an evil mixed with good.Based on the critics’ points of view, this dissertation will analyze the dual character of Satan’s image and check the factors that influence his dual character of image, from the analysis of the text to the author’s intention, from the 17th century social background to Milton’s personal experiences and belief. What’s more, the potential readers’ background and individual taste will also be taken into consideration. And all these analysis lead to the point that it is too simple and arbitrary to say Satan is a mere hero or a pure devil, since he is a round character full of thoughts and emotions. His ambivalence is obviously throughout the whole poem.Chapter 1 The dual character of Satan’s imageHistorically and traditionally, Satan is considered the symbol of evil, however, in John Milton’s epic—Paradise Lost, we can find a completely new image of him. Here he is no longer a simple-minded devil. He is a round character full of thoughts and emotions. Although in his spirit some evil genes still exist, he is gifted with more heroic characteristics. That is, Satan is a tragic villain hero driven by ambition.1.1 The image of Satan as a revolutionistRevolutionists are always courageous to fight against the uncoordinated factors of the society; they aren’t reconciled to being dictated to the mighty power. They make good use of their courage and wisdom to strike for the equality and freedom, which stand for a sound and positive society. They are confident that the victory belongs to them. In Paradise Lost, Satan demonstrates these personalities of a revolutionist in his strong desire for freedom, equality and his wisdom to fight against the tyranny of the God.1.1.1 Sadan owns the spirit of hero as a revolutionistSatan, originally called Lucifer，was one of the greatest angelic beings who serve God in Heaven. He is the most beautiful angels and God’s first-hand man, steadfast angel and the sublime grandeur of a graceful but tremendous spirit. Nevertheless, he is tired of flattering God and takes arms to fight for freedom. When being faced with God’s tyranny and mighty power, Satan doesn’t act as a coward. On the contrary, he appears even braver. He is not afraid of losing everything. Failure will only strengthen his will and his confidence.“All is not lost; the unconquerable will, /And study of revenge, immortal hate, /And courage never to submit or yield (Jin Fashen 10)”he declares, “Since through experience of this great event, /In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced, /We may with more successful hope resolve /To wage by force or guile eternal war /Irreconcilable to our grand Foe. (Jin Fashen 10)” There is undoubtedly something thrilling as he summons up his defeated powers, collects together the scatter legions of the lost angels, addresses them with words of defiance of God “Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war, /Hurling defiance towards the vault of heaven” (Zhang Boxiang 384). The sense of being lost, far from causing him to slump, propelshim with furious energy. This is how fear and despair are turned into courage. Clearly, such a turning of hell to fortitude is admirable. It is no cheapening of the heroism to say that it consists in making energetic resistance out of despair. It is not that the heroism of Satan’s defiance is bogus. On the narrative level, we cannot but admire Satan’s courage in venturing into the unknown, which shows the transcendent glory by his superior courage and abilities.If we listen to Satan as he wishes to be heard, his speech asserts equality, freedom, and nobility of soul. He appears to demand a kind of heavenly democracy; hence, he sees that God disturbs freedom as the first step toward slavery. Compared with Satan, God’s feature seems much duller. He is the ruler of heaven but “holds the tyranny (Jin Fashen 12)” by saying “what I will is Fate (Jin Fashen 86)”. He has the mighty power but still doubts it while facing Satan’s defiance. He is the creator but prevents human beings from reaching the Tree of Knowledge. He is selfish. He wants to control all the creatures under fatuity and backwardness so that he could maintain his sole reign. He leaves the fallen angels to go on falling forever and has no mercy on his people. He hates everything that would challenge his power. Belial counsels acceptance of God’s will, but his acceptance is informed by fear and sloth, not by love. Their consciousness of worth and intolerance of servitude are seen when the fallen angels claim, “rather seek /Our own good from ourselves, and from our own /Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess, /Free, and to none accountable, preferring /Hard liberty before the easy yoke” (Jin Fashen 20).It is no exaggeration to say that everything in heaven has a hellish travesty. However, Satan is just the opposite there. He looks forward to equality, to freedom and to knowledge. He poses,“…Knowledge forbidden? /Suspicious, reasonless! /Why should their Lord Envy them that? /Can it be sin to know, can it be death? /And do they only stand /By ignorance? (Jin Fashen 52)” Thus, in some way, Satan has become a speaker of the human beings. What he does is to help people to gain wisdom and to find their true happiness. In this sense, Satan, under Milton’s description, is no longer the symbol of evil but stands for the justness, liberty and equality. He stands as republican and atheist in heaven, appealing to an aristocratic notion of established status and constitutional rights. It is the liberty for which Satan iscontending and which the Father’s imposing of a new king threatens, not least by his implying that all dignities and titles are owed to the sovereign and so may be resumed or altered by him at will. From all these words, we can see the essence and virtue of a hero in Satan.1.1.2 Sadan’s wisdom and emotionAnother aspect worthy noting is Satan’s wisdom. A good example is his tempting Adam and Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge against God’s instructions. Satan disguises himself in the shape of snake and approaches Eve (not Adam, who is more sensible) at the very time she works alone. He starts the conversation with praise for Eve’s beauty, which is woman’s favorite, then comes to the target topic, and makes the emotional Eve loss her last line of defense and cannot wait to eat the fruit and touch her bright future. Another evidence sparking is when the God announces, “Your head I him appoint; /And by myself have sworn to him shall bow /All knees in Heaven, and shall confess him Lord. (Jin Fashen 66)”,Satan’s brilliant feedback: “Who can in reason then or right assume /Monarchy over such as live by right /His equals, if in power and splendor less, /In freedom equal (Jin Fashen 68)? /our puissance is our own (Jin Fashen 70)”.This is not only a challenge to God, but also a summon for right and liberty, which is rather inspiring. What’s more, Satan is also emotional and human. For instance, when he sees Adam and Eve in love, he is moved first to admiration and love and then to pity. And at the sight of the suffering of his fellows, he bursts into “Tears such as angels weep (Danielson 168)”. Sympathy is aroused immediately by such kind of sensibility. Satan also has the determination to enjoy the happiness and share the tears together with his dear followers by promising, “Joined with me once, now misery hath joined (Jin Fashen 8)”. We do continue to admire him, not just for his bravura performance, but because we see ourselves in Satan. And rather than consider ourselves devils, we consider him human.1.2 The image of Satan as a devilAlthough Satan shows the positive character of his image, he still has some intrinsically evil genes. A leopard cannot change his spots. As the curtain rises, he is already literally and symbolically fallen: evil exists in opposition to good.“Withambitious aim”, he is “Against the throne and monarchy of God, /Raised impious war in /Heaven and battle proud with vain attempt. (Jin Fashen 4)”1.2.1 sadan is vicious and furiousPride, we are told, leads Lucifer to envy, envy to revolt, and revolt to expulsion from heaven. Looking into the following example, the motive for this slight of tongue is pride: “Our being ordain’d to govern, not to serve”, since if all are chiefs, who are the Indians (Miller 87)?If an ordination takes place, who, among equals, does the ordaining? It shows that Satan has violated the law by which he lives; his ensuing career is tragic study in the negative will bound in its own error. He tells us of feelings of pride and envy, which make Satan unable to bear the Son’s exaltation. Lifted up high, he wishes to take a higher step. However, trying to step higher from his bright eminence in heaven makes him lose his perch and the things he have had. “Lost of happiness and lasting pain torments him; /round he throws his baleful eyes, /that witnessed huge affliction and dismay mixed /with obdurate pride and steadfast hate. (Jin Fashen 6)” It is the case of self-suggested temptation and fall.The slogan of Satan’s rebellion is freedom and independence, but freedom and independence lie in obedience, not in self-assertive rebellion. We can no longer admire Satan, because he is a fool seeing his free will only in terms of self-assertion. In the unfallen world, the rule is that creation returns thanks to the creator, and this return is made freely by good will at once indebted and discharged, as Satan did before his rebellion. However, to bad will, debt becomes extortion, and the return of gratitude sticks in Satan’s throat, “in a moment quit / The debt immense of endless gratitude, /So burdensome still paying, /still to owe (Jin Fashen 42)”. In his loss, Satan speaks with a moral understanding of both the freedom of gratitude and the unfreedom of resentment. So Satan converts what is a source of gratitude and freedom into a source of resentment and constraint. In this circumstance, whatever we think of heaven’s free love, through Satan’s eyes its goodness seems compelling; this attitude makes him more and more evil. So the study of Satan’s evil is the corruption of good. Satan has violated the conditions for true liberty. The rigid authoritarianism is Satan’s and freedom lies in faithful obedience to God. To be free is precisely the same thing as to be pious. Satan’seagerness to justify his position as leader has ineptly undermined his stand as libertarian. Satan makes a false heroic idea. The idea of him destroys his innate goodness and makes his hero comes to seem childish.1.2.2sadan’s other wrong deedsHe is tragic, however, not just through the resonance of his anguish, but because he makes a choice that destroys him. As God is made up of all virtues, Satan is composed of contending fragments of evil. Those fragmented aspects of the devil are represented in medieval art by the seven deadly sins: wrath, pride, lust, envy, sloth, avarice, and gluttony. Correspondingly, in Paradise Lost, Belial symbolizes sloth; Mammon, avarice; Moloch, hated. The concluding episode of book2 compresses those many evils into three personalities: Satan, Sin, and Death. Respectively, they represent cause, act, and effect, and their chaotic family tree is an obvious perversion of God’s own begetting of the Son. Sin is Satan’s daughter-mistress and his act of disobedience, while Death is the outcome of their incest. The trinity—Satan, Sin, and Death—shown to the reader is the demonic one. Death sits within hell’s gate. When Satan first sees Sin and Death, he fails to recognize his daughter and to acknowledge his son. To Sin, he says he has never yet seen “Sight more detestable than him and thee” (Miller 97). Readers share his reaction as he recognizes the dim, primordial monsters as obscenities locked from the light of civilization. In recognizing Sin and Death, Satan admits to his own perverse deformity. When Satan leaps into chaos, he thinks that he has left Sin, Death, and hell behind. Only later does he realize that he himself is hell: Satan as cause contains both act (Sin) and result (Death) in his every fiber. Sin is the way to be damned, but also that a reprobate like Satan, who tries to avoid submission and punishment, can only do so through further sin, incurring further damnation and punishment, “for within him Hell /He brings, of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue! (Jin Fashen 40)” and “Which way he fly is Hell (Jin Fashen 44)”. There is no room for sympathy since Satan has made the bed in which he lies.In short, Satan’s image is of dual character. By seeing from the textual level, Satan’s wickedness and heroism are crossed. On the one hand, he poses as a revolutionist fighting bravely for liberty and equality with his wisdom and emotion. Onthe other hand, he exposes his ambition and pride, holding a false idea of freedom and right, begetting Sin and Death, spreading evil and seducing human creatures. Satan is an archangelic being with perfect intelligence, but doomed to operate imperfectly.Chapter 2 Historical factors contributing to the dual characterof Satan’s imageA work cannot be interpreted correctly regardless of its related environment. Similarly, the vague image of Satan has its root in the turmoil of the time during which Paradise Lost was written. This part will check the factors that influence the image of Satan. It consists of examining the 17th century social background and the author’s experiences and belief for a better understanding of Satan’s image.2.1 The influence of the puritan movementThe Puritan movement, in its broadest sense, may be regarded as a second or greater Renaissance, a rebirth of the moral nature of man. The very Renaissance had been essentially pagan and sensuous, accompanied by a moral awakening especially in England, that greatest moral and political reform which ever swept over a nation in the short space of half a century. It had two chief objects: personal righteousness and civil and religious liberty, which is quite similar to the purposes of heavenly rebellion led by Satan.That was a transitional society, full of violence, revolution, tyranny and many unstable factors. People doubted about their future and their value. Some of them submitted and only lived for life’s sake, just like some angels yielding to God’s authority and flattering him to maintain their glories. But still many of them stood out and devoted all their life to the course of freedom and happiness, the same as Satan and his followers do. Milton was one of the revolutionists. He supports his motherland’s revolution against king’s tyranny for human liberty with his wisdom and sharpened pen. He works so hard against the European reactionaries in order to vindicate the action of beheading the king CharlesⅠthat he losses his sight, but even in such kind of condition, he still sticks to his struggle. He creates lots of great masterpieces to present the truthand reality with his imaginations, to encourage English people. This kind of perseverance can find its reflection in the image of Satan, since even when he has lost all the glories around him and been driven out of Heaven, he still holds on to his belief. According to the bigotry, bellicosity, obstinacy and radicalness reflected during the course of fighting for his personal pursuit, Satan is blind, but it is just in such defect where his lofty and self-respect lay (Ma Haijian). So was Milton. He is not only a pious puritan, but also a revolutionist eager to fight. He allows the revolutionary in himself to take root in Satan. The conflict between Satan and God is, in fact, the one that between the Parliaments which are on behalf of liberty---which Milton was advocating--- and the stubborn despotic royal force. The revolutionary spirit is quite obvious. Milton’s pursuance of freedom and equality is exactly that of Satan.At the beginning of the epic, Milton “assert Eternal Providence, /And justify the ways of God to man”(Jin Fashen 4), but the description of God and Heaven is totally different from the poet’s original intention. God is the symbol of authority while the angels are all obsequious without personality. Unsatisfied with God’s tyranny, Satan takes arms to challenge the authority and asserts civil right. That is quite in accordance with Milton’s attitude—people have their right either for the governor or against the governor, so long as they wish. Satan’s first challenge is to God. Though he know at the very beginning the margin between him and God, Satan is not afraid of performing the course he thought righteous. That makes his angelic image more glory and his deed more admirable. Even when Satan seduces our forefather, we do own thanks to him, for it is him who lets us become wit and experienced. The demanding of Adam “yet sinless, with desire to know /What nearer might concern him, how this World /Of Heaven and Earth conspicuous first began (Jin Fashen 84)” makes us feel “wisdom at one entrance quite shut out. (Jin Fashen 30)”and doubt “is knowledge so despised? /Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste? (Jin Fashen 58)” Satan’s great courage, rebellion spirit, perseverance and wisdom are highly praised here, which makes him the real central figure in this epic.But naturally, as a national movement, Puritan Movement had its extremes and excesses. And the intensity of the struggle against despotism made men narrow and hard.In the triumph of Puritanism under Cromwell, severe laws were passed, many simple pleasures were forbidden, and an austere standard of living was forced upon an unwilling people. Next, Cromwell conquered Ireland and Scottish, unifying the three counties. And the supreme authority was in his hands as his closest followers declared Parliament dismissed in December 1653. He thus assumed the title of Lord Protector. Another autarch had replaced the former one. The initial righteous rebellion turns to be an ambitious aggression. The Movement essentially failed, since no liberty and civil right are realized. Satan shares the same process with Cromwell. They are both preservers and destroyers. As he reins the Hell, Satan becomes more extreme and more destructive. The case is genuine heroism wrongly used in relation to himself and others.A leader of liberty is transformed to a ruler of despotism, and then is damned further.2.2 The influence of the restorationUnfortunately, in 1660, when CharlesⅡsuccessfully achieved the Restoration of the kingdom, all Milton’s labors and sacrifice for humanity were apparently wasted. He was immediately marked for persecution, and his books were burned by the public hangman. His daughter, upon whom he depended in his blindness, rebelled at the task of reading to him and recording his thoughts. All the policies that he had worked for so passionately had suddenly been abrogated. So he couldn’t help sighing with strong emotion: “If you beest he—but O how fallen! (Jin Fashen 8)” The Republic came to an end; the Restoration brought people another turbulence. The whole Britain suffered total reversal again. The failure urged Milton to soul-searching. And it was the time when God’s authority resumed, and Satan was transformed to a serpent.In literature, the Age was definitely the one of confusion. The spiritual gloom, which sooner or later fastened upon all the writers of the age, was due to the breaking up of accepted standards of government and religion. That led the literary men of the time to look backward for their golden age unconsciously. This could also be a clue to understand Satan, since Milton mixed reason in Puritanism with morality and constituted Puritan Humanism, and the thought was reflected in his Paradise Lost. As the last rearguard of the Renaissance and the primary promoter of Enlightenment, he endowed his introspection to humanism on his greatest image of Satan portrayed in thispoem. Although Milton’s study of the will focused on the inner world of temptation, guilt and repentance, he treated these things not just as they borne on one’s relation to oneself or to God, but to others also. Satan’s fall corrupted others as well as himself, so no grace would be extended to him. Milton’s was a disciplined, rational, responsible moral freedom beyond the reach of most political activists. (Fowler 43)His individual emphasis is on the freedom of the disciplined life: obedience is freedom; independence is slavery. In heaven, political loyalty is religious loyalty, and Satan’s republicanism violates both. So Satan’s rebellion for freedom turns to be a path to slavery. Will is free, determined neither by divine predestination nor by subliminal psychodynamics. Satan has the free will to stand but he chooses to fall. And in Milton’s view, virtue is not cloistered innocence untroubled by passions, but rather the difficult experience of rationality, of perpetual rational choices between seductively deceptive alternatives (Fowler 37). So, no matter how just the excuses are, Satan does spread evils and bring torment to human beings. Satan’s formidable intellectual powers are engaged in what is self-deception before it turns to deception of others. The process of negation takes him from heroic denial of the order of heaven to a perverse and mean form of resistance, and ruses of concealment and self-deception re-enter in ignoble, self-corrupting forms. Here is a committed revolutionary, a supporter of regicide, who nevertheless makes his rebel angels devils.So far, Milton was lost into great ambivalence. On the one hand, instead of withdrawing from society, Milton remained social, no longer participating directly in politics, but continuing to host foreign visitors and work closely with friends and acquaintances as he produced some of his greatest writings. On the other hand, because of the force of the society, whatever he tried, he was doomed to receive more strikes and despair. He suspected of the meaning of his endeavor. So in this way we can realize why the feature of Satan is ambivalent. The author has infused his own spirits and passion into Satan’s character. Satan’s fights with God are just like Milton’s fights with the society. Satan becomes a prolocutor of the author. They both are eager for freedom and both can’t escape from the unavoidable failure. That’s the tragedy—a hero’s tragedy. To Milton, it is the reality that he hates. He has worked so hard and enthusiastically for the。
弥尔顿失乐园英文评述paradise lost
Paradise LostMelton's magnum opus, the blank-verse epic poem Paradise Lost, was composed by the blind and impoverished Milton from 1658 to 1664 (first edition) with small but significant revisions published in 1674 (second edition). As a blind poet, Milton dictated his verse to a series of aides in his employ. It has been argued that the poem reflects his personal despair at the failure of the Revolution, yet affirms an ultimate optimism in human potential.The extract from Paradise Lost ids mainly talking about: Mammon who was the least erected spirit that fell from Heaven, discovered and robbed wealth with evil and greed from earth to build his paradise. When he was in Heaven, he was preferred gold and pavement other than admiring holy and bright side. This time, Mammon educated people to be greed and evil. He led a group of people to seize treasure from the mother of earth. With spade and pickax, all the miseducated men were devoted to trenching a field or casting a rampart. Soon his group had opened the hill into a spacious wound and gained ribs of gold. Meantime, another team digged many caves, magic flames under caves melted the gold and then pured all those with somewhat magic thicks. At the same time, the third groups had finished various models for architecture. Still with magic power, all the gold in boiled liquid flowed followed pipes of the buildings. It sounds like a pleasure beautiful music. Quickly and unexpected, a resplendent and magnificent palace was just stood there.The story wants to show that the roots of human’s disasters. People tends to be emotional and easy to be on the wrong path due to lack of rational, strong will. That’s why people would always break regulations when influenced by various factors from the outside of the world. So is paradise lost. The author criticised those attitude and ill-mind. He affirmed people’s gumption, negated infinite hedonism. And also he affirmed people’s sense of pride, negated the breeding pride and ambition. Just like the least erected spirit Mammon, he was too evil and greedy, and mislead the delicate human to be the same ones. They destroyed the earth, plundered the wealth resources of earth. All these com from their easily broken will. People there build up the resplendent and magnificent palace, hoping eternally lived in easy and comfortable without worries and danger.In the extract of Paradise Lost, Milton shows excellent means of artistic expression. Dazzling and lyric figure of speech. Such as veins of liquid fire, as in an organ from one blast of wind, rose like an exholatior, or build like a temple. He also use the manner in which Latin is used in speaking or writing. Furthermore,he used canorous tone which expressed the sweet of tonality. For example, too many arow of pipes the sound-board breathes anon out of the earth a fabric huge of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet. There is also a part of argument by Milton in the extract, let none admire that riches grow in hell. That soil may bestdeserve the precious bane. And here let those who boast in mortal things, and wondering tell of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings. Learn how their greatest monuments of fame, and strength, and art, are easily out-done by spirits reprobate, and in an hour what in an age they with incessant toil and hands innumerable scarce perform.Features of Milton’s works.(1) Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism.(2) Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.(3) Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.(4) Milton has always been admired for his sublimit of thought and majesty of expression.。
《失乐园》：堕落与救赎的主题探究
《失乐园》：堕落与救赎的主题探究1. 引言1.1 概述：本文将探讨约翰·密尔顿的史诗诗歌作品《失乐园》所涉及的主题——堕落与救赎。
该作品以亚当和夏娃被逐出伊甸园为背景，通过描述这一原始场景中人类的堕落和失去的快乐，展示了人类面临罪恶和苦难时寻求救赎和重获幸福的艰辛过程。
本文将以此为基础，对《失乐园》中关于堕落与救赎的主题进行深入探究。
1.2 文章结构：本文分为引言、正文和结论三个部分。
引言部分将提供概述、文章结构和目的等内容，正文将从尺度失衡下的堕落、隐喻与象征的救赎以及爱与希望的重建三个方面来详细探讨《失乐园》中有关主题的内容。
结论部分将总结对主题的探究，并对人性与道德反思，以及对现实社会的启示与影响进行讨论。
1.3 目的：本文旨在通过对《失乐园》中堕落与救赎主题的探究，深入理解密尔顿作品中所揭示的人类反抗罪恶、追求救赎和重获幸福的内在力量。
同时，借助分析亚当和夏娃的形象塑造以及其他隐喻与象征手法的使用，进一步思考人性与道德等深层次问题，并探讨作品对现实社会的启示与影响。
以上是文章“1. 引言”部分的详细内容，将为接下来文章正文的展开提供必要背景和框架。
2. 正文2.1 尺度失衡下的堕落:《失乐园》这部作品以堕落为根本主题，揭示了人类在追求权力和知识的过程中逐渐走向道德沦丧和堕落的现象。
尺度失衡是导致堕落的重要原因之一。
亚当和夏娃在伊甸园中不受限制地享受着生活中的一切美好，然而他们贪心地想要超越自己的尺度，追求更多禁果所带来的力量和启示。
正是由于他们超越了上帝所设定的界限，让他们陷入了道德与精神层面上的堕落。
2.2 隐喻与象征的救赎:在《失乐园》中，隐喻与象征被广泛运用来表达救赎过程。
弥尔顿通过描写撒旦、亚当、夏娃等角色之间复杂纠葛的关系，展现了罪恶与忏悔之间不断斗争和平衡调整的过程。
同时，作者也通过象征性意象如伊甸园、禁果等来传达人类内心的救赎欲望。
在作品的结尾，亚当和夏娃通过忏悔和对上帝的信仰获得了精神上的救赎，重建了他们与上帝之间的关系。
Paradise Lost(失乐园中撒旦形象的分析)
After reading theexcerptpart of paradise lost and many introduction of it`sauthordo get to know him and his works more and better than used to.ItreatedMiltonnot only as a master of poets but also arespected solider.Thespirits ofsacrificing for his beliefs inspiring me much.
Satan isthe first major character introduced in the test. Formerly the most beautiful of all angels in Heaven, he's a tragic figure best described by the now-famous quote "Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven". He is introduced to Hell after he leads a failed rebellion to wrestle control of Heaven from God. Satan's desire to rebel against his creator stems from his unwillingness to be subjugated by God and his Son, falsely claiming that angels are "self-begot, self-raised", therebydenying God's authority over them as their creator.Satan is comparable in many ways to the tragic heroes of classic Greek literature but, Satan's hubris far surpasses those of previous tragedies. Though at times he plays the narrative role of an anti-hero, he is still commonly understood to be the antagonist of the epic. However, the true nature of his role in the poem has been the subject of much notoriety and scholarly debate.
《失乐园》中撒旦形象的双重性分析_英语毕业设计论文
南阳理工学院毕业设计（论文）题目：《失乐园》中撒旦形象的双重性分析An Analysis of the Dual Character ofSatan’s Image in Paradise Lost《失乐园》中撒旦形象的双重性分析[摘要]在约翰.弥尔顿所有的著作中，《失乐园》是最复杂，最难理解的一部作品，并为他赢得了永久的荣誉。
在《失乐园》中，撒旦的形象是最生动，逼真的，他的巨大影响力和矛盾的情感，以及其复杂性，掩盖了其他所有的形象包括上帝。
作为《失乐园》中最重要的形象，撒旦显然是令人钦佩的，而且有着巨大的影响，这种矛盾的情感吸引了众多批评家的目光，引起了几个世纪的争论。
这篇论文将要把撒旦的双重形象分成三种类型进行分析：第一种类型是把撒旦作为革命者的形象；第二类是把撒旦作为魔鬼的形象进行分析；第三类是以评论家的观点，保持中立，认为撒旦的形象，除了是由人们构想的，是抽象的以外，撒旦带给我们更多的是好与坏的混合体。
而且本论文还将要查明影响撒旦双重性格形象的因素，从分析正文看作者的写作意图；从十七世纪的社会背景看弥尔顿个人的经历和信仰。
更多的是那些潜在的读者的背景和他们独特的欣赏力，也被作者考虑在内。
所有的这些分析得出的观点是，撒旦是一个仅有的英雄和一个真正的恶魔，从他所有的看法和情感得到一个多方面的性格。
他的矛盾情感鲜明的遍及整个诗篇。
[关键词] 《失乐园》撒旦革命者魔鬼清教徒An Analysis of the Dual Character of Satan’s Image inParadise Lost[Abstract]All of John Milton’s great works. Paradise Lose is the most complicated and most profound one, which wins him endless honor. The image of Satan in Paradise Lost is supreme vivid, powerful, ambivalent and complex, overshadowing all the other characters including God.As the main character of Paradise Lost, Satan is obviously impressive and powerful, whose ambivalence catches all critics’ eyes and leads to centuries’ disputes. This dissertation will analyze the dual character of Satan’s image into three groups: The first group that the image of Satan as a revolutionist, the second group that the image of Satan as a devil, while the third group of critics, stand in the middle, seeing both sides of Satan. They identify Satan either as an abstract conception or else, more immediately, as someone who is an evil mixed with good. On the other hand, check the factors that influence his dual character of image, from the analysis of the text to the author’s intention, from the 17th century social background to Milton’s personal experiences and belief. What’s more, the potential readers’ background and individual taste will also be taken into consideration. And all these analysis lead to the point that it is too simple and arbitrary to say Satan is a mere hero or a pure devil, since he is a round character full of thoughts and emotions. His ambivalence is obviously throughout the whole poem.[Key Words]Paradise Lose Satan revolutionist devil puritanContentsIntroductionChapter 1 The Bual Character of Satan’s Image1.1 The Image of Satan as a Revolutionist1.1.1 Sadan owns the spirit of hero as a revolutionist1.1.2 Sadan’s wisdom and emotion1.2 The Image of Satan as a Devil1.2.1 Sadan is vicious and furious1.2.2 Sadan’s other wrong deedsChapter 2 Historical Factors Contributing to the Dual Character of Satan’s Image2.1 The Influence of the puritan movement2.2 The Influence of the restorationChapter 3Potential Readers’Influence on the Formation of the Dual Characterof Satan’s Image3.1 Puritans’ view of Satan3.2 Revolutionists’ idea of Satan3.3 Neutral modernists’ interpretation of SatanConclusionAcknowledgementReferencesAn Analysis of the Dual Character of Satan’s Image inParadise LostName：Li Yanyan Number：51406182 Class：065142IntroductionJohn Milton, one of the greatest poets of the English language, is a political commenter of the English Bourgeois Revolution, whose importance is acknowledged all over the world. His powerful, rhetoric prose and the eloquence of his poetry had an immense influence especially on the 18th century verse. He is the last rearguard of the Renaissance and the primary promoter of Enlightenment and he is the love of every form of human culture and the steadfast devotion to duty as the highest object in human life have shaped his entire career.Of all his great works, Paradise Lost is the most complicated and most profound one, which wins him endless honor. It is indeed the only generally recognized epic in English literature since Beowulf and a heroic poem in Renaissance style. It recounts the story of Satan's rebellion against God, and of the disobedience and fall of Adam and Eve. It deals with revolt from God, with sin and fall, and with the possible salvation. It presents the author’s views in an allegoric religious form, and readers will easily discern its basic idea—exposure of the ways of Satan and justification of the ways of God to men. It is a reflection of the reactionary forces of Milton’s time and the passionate appeal for freedom.As the main character of Paradise Lost, Satan is obviously impressive and powerful, whose ambivalence catches all critics’ eyes and leads to centuries’ disputes. Those critics can be classified into three groups. The first group mainly consists of revolutionists.They traditionally read this epic with strong political inclination,thinking Satan as the protagonist and considering him a symbol of revolution (Fowler 45). They are generally called pro-Satanists. They think Satan is infinitely superior to man, entirely different from the devil of the miracle plays, and completely overshadowing the hero both in interest and in manliness (Danielson 134). The second group is formed by the anti-Satanists. They follow the theme of sense and regard Satan’s hubris without sense as the cause of his own tragedy. They view Satan as an absolute devil, the root of our immense pain from generation to generation. Though his lingering traces of angelic nature and his assertion of implacable defiance at the beginning of the poem disguise him as a righteous liberator, it can’t change Satan’s evil nature (Huang Delin 52). He is doomed to destruction by the flaw of self-love and over-ambition. Both pro-Satanists and anti-Satanists have evidence to support their statements, but neither of them can prove their points of view with sufficient details. While the third group of critics, such as John Carey, stand in the middle, seeing both sides of Satan. They are apt to believe that Satan’s ambivalence is intended by Milton to achieve depth (Danielson 160). They identify Satan either as an abstract conception or else, more immediately, as someone who is an evil mixed with good.Based on the critics’points of view, this dissertation will analyze the dual character of Satan’s image and check the factors that influence his dual character of image, from the analysis of the text to the author’s intention, from the 17th century social background to Milton’s personal experiences and belief. What’s more, the potential readers’background and individual taste will also be taken into consideration. And all these analysis lead to the point that it is too simple and arbitrary to say Satan is a mere hero or a pure devil, since he is a round character full of thoughts and emotions. His ambivalence is obviously throughout the whole poem.Chapter 1 The dual character of Satan’s imageHistorically and traditionally, Satan is considered the symbol of evil, however, in John Milton’s epic—Paradise Lost, we can find a completely new image of him. Here he is no longer a simple-minded devil. He is a round character full of thoughts and emotions. Although in his spirit some evil genes still exist, he is gifted with more heroic characteristics. That is, Satan is a tragic villain hero driven by ambition.1.1 The image of Satan as a revolutionistRevolutionists are always courageous to fight against the uncoordinated factors of the society; they aren’t reconciled to being dictated to the mighty power. They make good use of their courage and wisdom to strike for the equality and freedom, which stand for a sound and positive society. They are confident that the victory belongs to them. In Paradise Lost, Satan demonstrates these personalities of a revolutionist in his strong desire for freedom, equality and his wisdom to fight against the tyranny of the God.1.1.1 Sadan owns the spirit of hero as a revolutionistSatan, originally called Lucifer，was one of the greatest angelic beings who serve God in Heaven. He is the most beautiful angels and God’s first-hand man, steadfast angel and the sublime grandeur of a graceful but tremendous spirit. Nevertheless, he is tired of flattering God and takes arms to fight for freedom. When being faced with God’s tyranny and mighty power, Satan doesn’t act as a coward. On the contrary, he appears even braver. He is not afraid of losing everything. Failure will only strengthen his will and his confidence.“All is not lost; the unconquerable will, /And study of revenge, immortal hate, /And courage never to submit or yield (Jin Fashen 10)” he declares, “Since through experience of this great event, /In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced, /We may with more successful hope resolve /To wage by force or guile eternal war /Irreconcilable to our grand Foe. (Jin Fashen 10)”There isundoubtedly something thrilling as he summons up his defeated powers, collects together the scatter legions of the lost angels, addresses them with words of defiance of God “Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war, /Hurling defiance towards the vault of heaven” (Zhang Boxiang 384). The sense of being lost, far from causing him to slump, propels him with furious energy. This is how fear and despair are turned into courage. Clearly, such a turning of hell to fortitude is admirable. It is no cheapening of the heroism to say that it consists in making energetic resistance out of despair. It is not that the heroism of Satan’s defiance is bogus. On the narrative level, we cannot but admire Satan’s courage in venturing into the unknown, which shows the transcendent glory by his superior courage and abilities.If we listen to Satan as he wishes to be heard, his speech asserts equality, freedom, and nobility of soul. He appears to demand a kind of heavenly democracy; hence, he sees that God disturbs freedom as the first step toward slavery. Compared with Satan, God’s feature seems much duller. He is the ruler of heaven but “holds the tyranny (Jin Fashen 12)”by saying “what I will is Fate (Jin Fashen 86)”. He has the mighty power but still doubts it while facing Satan’s defiance. He is the creator but prevents human beings from reaching the Tree of Knowledge. He is selfish. He wants to control all the creatures under fatuity and backwardness so that he could maintain his sole reign. He leaves the fallen angels to go on falling forever and has no mercy on his people. He hates everything that would challenge his power. Belial counsels acceptance of God’s will, but his acceptance is informed by fear and sloth, not by love. Their consciousness of worth and intolerance of servitude are seen when the fallen angels claim, “rather seek /Our own good from ourselves, and from our own /Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess, /Free, and to none accountable, preferring /Hard liberty before the easy yoke” (Jin Fashen 20).It is no exaggeration to say that everything in heaven has a hellish travesty. However, Satan is just the opposite there. He looks forward to equality, to freedom and to knowledge. He poses,“…Knowledge forbidden? /Suspicious, reasonless! /Why should their Lord Envy them that? /Can it be sin to know, can it be death? /And do they only stand /By ignorance? (Jin Fashen 52)” Thus, in some way, Satan has become a speaker of the human beings. What hedoes is to help people to gain wisdom and to find their true happiness. In this sense, Satan, under Milton’s description, is no longer the symbol of evil but stands for the justness, liberty and equality. He stands as republican and atheist in heaven, appealing to an aristocratic notion of established status and constitutional rights. It is the liberty for which Satan is contending and which the Father’s imposing of a new king threatens, not least by his implying that all dignities and titles are owed to the sovereign and so may be resumed or altered by him at will. From all these words, we can see the essence and virtue of a hero in Satan.1.1.2 Sadan’s wisdom and emotionAnother aspect worthy noting is Satan’s wisdom. A good example is his tempting Adam and Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge against God’s instructions. Satan disguises himself in the shape of snake and approaches Eve (not Adam, who is more sensible) at the very time she works alone. He starts the conversation with praise for Eve’s beauty, which is woman’s favorite, then comes to the target topic, and makes the emotional Eve loss her last line of defense and cannot wait to eat the fruit and touch her bright future. Another evidence sparking is when the God announces, “Your head I him appoint; /And by myself have sworn to him shall bow /All knees in Heaven, and shall confess him Lord. (Jin Fashen 66)”, Satan’s brilliant feedback: “Who can in reason then or right assume /Monarchy over such as live by right /His equals, if in power and splendor less, /In freedom equal (Jin Fashen 68)? /our puissance is our own (Jin Fashen 70)”.This is not only a challenge to God, but also a summon for right and liberty, which is rather inspiring. What’s more, Satan is also emotional and human. For instance, when he sees Adam and Eve in love, he is moved first to admiration and love and then to pity. And at the sight of the suffering of his fellows, he bursts into “Tears such as angels weep (Danielson 168)”.Sympathy is aroused immediately by such kind of sensibility. Satan also has the determination to enjoy the happiness and share the tears together with his dear followers by promising, “Joined with me once, now misery hath joined (Jin Fashen 8)”. We do continue to admire him, not just for his bravura performance, but because we see ourselves in Satan. And rather than consider ourselves devils, we consider him human.1.2 The image of Satan as a devilAlthough Satan shows the positive character of his image, he still has some intrinsically evil genes. A leopard cannot change his spots. As the curtain rises, he is already literally and symbolically fallen: evil exists in opposition to good.“With ambitious aim”, he is “Against the throne and monarchy of God, /Raised impious war in /Heaven and battle proud with vain attempt. (Jin Fashen 4)”1.2.1 sadan is vicious and furiousPride, we are told, leads Lucifer to envy, envy to revolt, and revolt to expulsion from heaven. Looking into the following example, the motive for this slight of tongue is pride: “Our being ordain’d to govern, not to serve”, since if all are chiefs, who are the Indians (Miller 87)?If an ordination takes place, who, among equals, does the ordaining? It shows that Satan has violated the law by which he lives; his ensuing career is tragic study in the negative will bound in its own error. He tells us of feelings of pride and envy, which make Satan unable to bear the Son’s exaltation. Lifted up high, he wishes to take a higher step. However, trying to step higher from his bright eminence in heaven makes him lose his perch and the things he have had. “Lost of happiness and lasting pain torments him; /round he throws his baleful eyes, /that witnessed huge affliction and dismay mixed /with obdurate pride and steadfast hate. (Jin Fashen 6)” It is the case of self-suggested temptation and fall.The slogan of Satan’s rebellion is freedom and independence, but freedom and independence lie in obedience, not in self-assertive rebellion. We can no longer admire Satan, because he is a fool seeing his free will only in terms of self-assertion. In the unfallen world, the rule is that creation returns thanks to the creator, and this return is made freely by good will at once indebted and discharged, as Satan did before his rebellion. However, to bad will, debt becomes extortion, and the return of gratitude sticks in Satan’s throat, “in a moment quit / The debt immense of endless gratitude, /So burdensome still paying, /still to owe (Jin Fashen 42)”. In his loss, Satan speaks with a moral understanding of both the freedom of gratitude and the unfreedom of resentment. So Satan converts what is a source of gratitude and freedom into a source of resentment and constraint. In this circumstance, whatever we think ofheaven’s free love, through Satan’s eyes its goodness seems compelling; this attitude makes him more and more evil. So the study of Satan’s evil is the corruption of good. Satan has violated the conditions for true liberty. The rigid authoritarianism is Satan’s and freedom lies in faithful obedience to God. To be free is precisely the same thing as to be pious. Satan’s eagerness to justify his position as leader has ineptly undermined his stand as libertarian. Satan makes a false heroic idea. The idea of him destroys his innate goodness and makes his hero comes to seem childish.1.2.2sadan’s other wrong deedsHe is tragic, however, not just through the resonance of his anguish, but because he makes a choice that destroys him. As God is made up of all virtues, Satan is composed of contending fragments of evil. Those fragmented aspects of the devil are represented in medieval art by the seven deadly sins: wrath, pride, lust, envy, sloth, avarice, and gluttony. Correspondingly, in Paradise Lost, Belial symbolizes sloth; Mammon, avarice; Moloch, hated. The concluding episode of book2 compresses those many evils into three personalities: Satan, Sin, and Death. Respectively, they represent cause, act, and effect, and their chaotic family tree is an obvious perversion of God’s own begetting of the Son. Sin is Satan’s daughter-mistress and his act of disobedience, while Death is the outcome of their incest. The trinity—Satan, Sin, and Death—shown to the reader is the demonic one. Death sits within hell’s gate. When Satan first sees Sin and Death, he fails to recognize his daughter and to acknowledge his son. To Sin, he says he has never yet seen “Sight more detestable than him and thee” (Miller 97).Readers share his reaction as he recognizes the dim, primordial monsters as obscenities locked from the light of civilization. In recognizing Sin and Death, Satan admits to his own perverse deformity. When Satan leaps into chaos, he thinks that he has left Sin, Death, and hell behind. Only later does he realize that he himself is hell: Satan as cause contains both act (Sin) and result (Death) in his every fiber. Sin is the way to be damned, but also that a reprobate like Satan, who tries to avoid submission and punishment, can only do so through further sin, incurring further damnation and punishment, “for within him Hell /He brings, of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue! (Jin Fashen 40)”and “Which way he fly is Hell (JinFashen 44)”. There is no room for sympathy since Satan has made the bed in which he lies.In short, Satan’s image is of dual character. By seeing from the textual level, Satan’s wickedness and heroism are crossed. On the one hand, he poses as a revolutionist fighting bravely for liberty and equality with his wisdom and emotion. On the other hand, he exposes his ambition and pride, holding a false idea of freedom and right, begetting Sin and Death, spreading evil and seducing human creatures. Satan is an archangelic being with perfect intelligence, but doomed to operate imperfectly.Chapter 2 Historical factors contributing to the dual characterof Satan’s imageA work cannot be interpreted correctly regardless of its related environment. Similarly, the vague image of Satan has its root in the turmoil of the time during which Paradise Lost was written. This part will check the factors that influence the image of Satan. It consists of examining the 17th century social background and the author’s experiences and belief for a better understanding of Satan’s image.2.1 The influence of the puritan movementThe Puritan movement, in its broadest sense, may be regarded as a second or greater Renaissance, a rebirth of the moral nature of man. The very Renaissance had been essentially pagan and sensuous, accompanied by a moral awakening especially in England, that greatest moral and political reform which ever swept over a nation in the short space of half a century. It had two chief objects: personal righteousness and civil and religious liberty, which is quite similar to the purposes of heavenly rebellion led by Satan.That was a transitional society, full of violence, revolution, tyranny and many unstable factors. People doubted about their future and their value. Some of them submitted and only lived for life’s sake, just like some angels yielding to God’s authority and flattering him to maintain their glories. But still many of them stood outand devoted all their life to the course of freedom and happiness, the same as Satan and his followers do. Milton was one of the revolutionists. He supports his motherland’s revolution against king’s tyranny for human liberty with his wisdom and sharpened pen. He works so hard against the European reactionaries in order to vindicate the action of beheading the king CharlesⅠthat he losses his sight, but even in such kind of condition, he still sticks to his struggle. He creates lots of great masterpieces to present the truth and reality with his imaginations, to encourage English people. This kind of perseverance can find its reflection in the image of Satan, since even when he has lost all the glories around him and been driven out of Heaven, he still holds on to his belief. According to the bigotry, bellicosity, obstinacy and radicalness reflected during the course of fighting for his personal pursuit, Satan is blind, but it is just in such defect where his lofty and self-respect lay (Ma Haijian). So was Milton. He is not only a pious puritan, but also a revolutionist eager to fight. He allows the revolutionary in himself to take root in Satan. The conflict between Satan and God is, in fact, the one that between the Parliaments which are on behalf of liberty---which Milton was advocating--- and the stubborn despotic royal force. The revolutionary spirit is quite obvious. Milton’s pursuance of freedom and equality is exactly that of Satan.At the beginning of the epic, Milton “assert Eternal Providence, /And justify the ways of God to man”(Jin Fashen 4), but the description of God and Heaven is totally different from the poet’s original intention. God is the symbol of authority while the angels are all obsequious without personality. Unsatisfied with God’s tyranny, Satan takes arms to challenge the authority and asserts civil right. That is quite in accordance with Milton’s attitude—people have their right either for the governor or against the governor, so long as they wish. Satan’s first challenge is to God. Though he know at the very beginning the margin between him and God, Satan is not afraid of performing the course he thought righteous. That makes his angelic image more glory and his deed more admirable. Even when Satan seduces our forefather, we do own thanks to him, for it is him who lets us become wit and experienced. The demanding of Adam “yet sinless, with desire to know /What nearer might concern him, how thisWorld /Of Heaven and Earth conspicuous first began (Jin Fashen 84)” makes us feel “wisdom at one entrance quite shut out. (Jin Fashen 30)” and doubt “is knowledge so despised? /Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste? (Jin Fashen 58)” Satan’s great courage, rebellion spirit, perseverance and wisdom are highly praised here, which makes him the real central figure in this epic.But naturally, as a national movement, Puritan Movement had its extremes and excesses. And the intensity of the struggle against despotism made men narrow and hard. In the triumph of Puritanism under Cromwell, severe laws were passed, many simple pleasures were forbidden, and an austere standard of living was forced upon an unwilling people. Next, Cromwell conquered Ireland and Scottish, unifying the three counties. And the supreme authority was in his hands as his closest followers declared Parliament dismissed in December 1653. He thus assumed the title of Lord Protector. Another autarch had replaced the former one. The initial righteous rebellion turns to be an ambitious aggression. The Movement essentially failed, since no liberty and civil right are realized. Satan shares the same process with Cromwell. They are both preservers and destroyers. As he reins the Hell, Satan becomes more extreme and more destructive. The case is genuine heroism wrongly used in relation to himself and others. A leader of liberty is transformed to a ruler of despotism, and then is damned further.2.2 The influence of the restorationUnfortunately, in 1660, when CharlesⅡsuccessfully achieved the Restoration of the kingdom, all Milton’s labors and sacrifice for humanity were apparently wasted. He was immediately marked for persecution, and his books were burned by the public hangman. His daughter, upon whom he depended in his blindness, rebelled at the task of reading to him and recording his thoughts. All the policies that he had worked for so passionately had suddenly been abrogated. So he couldn’t help sighing with strong emotion: “If you beest he—but O how fallen! (Jin Fashen 8)” The Republic came to an end; the Restoration brought people another turbulence. The whole Britain suffered total reversal again. The failure urged Milton to soul-searching. And it was the time when God’s authority resumed, and Satan was transformed to a serpent.In literature, the Age was definitely the one of confusion. The spiritual gloom, which sooner or later fastened upon all the writers of the age, was due to the breaking up of accepted standards of government and religion. That led the literary men of the time to look backward for their golden age unconsciously. This could also be a clue to understand Satan, since Milton mixed reason in Puritanism with morality and constituted Puritan Humanism, and the thought was reflected in his Paradise Lost. As the last rearguard of the Renaissance and the primary promoter of Enlightenment, he endowed his introspection to humanism on his greatest image of Satan portrayed in this poem. Although Milton’s study of the will focused on the inner world of temptation, guilt and repentance, he treated these things not just as they borne on one’s relation to oneself or to God, but to others also. Satan’s fall corrupted others as well as himself, so no grace would be extended to him. Milton’s was a disciplined, rational, responsible moral freedom beyond the reach of most political activists. (Fowler 43)His individual emphasis is on the freedom of the disciplined life: obedience is freedom; independence is slavery. In heaven, political loyalty is religious loyalty, and Satan’s republicanism violates both. So Satan’s rebellion for freedom turns to be a path to slavery. Will is free, determined neither by divine predestination nor by subliminal psychodynamics. Satan has the free will to stand but he chooses to fall. And in Milton’s view, virtue is not cloistered innocence untroubled by passions, but rather the difficult experience of rationality, of perpetual rational choices between seductively deceptive alternatives (Fowler 37). So, no matter how just the excuses are, Satan does spread evils and bring torment to human beings. Satan’s formidable intellectual powers are engaged in what is self-deception before it turns to deception of others. The process of negation takes him from heroic denial of the order of heaven to a perverse and mean form of resistance, and ruses of concealment and self-deception re-enter in ignoble, self-corrupting forms. Here is a committed revolutionary, a supporter of regicide, who nevertheless makes his rebel angels devils.So far, Milton was lost into great ambivalence. On the one hand, instead of withdrawing from society, Milton remained social, no longer participating directly in politics, but continuing to host foreign visitors and work closely with friends andacquaintances as he produced some of his greatest writings. On the other hand, because of the force of the society, whatever he tried, he was doomed to receive more strikes and despair. He suspected of the meaning of his endeavor. So in this way we can realize why the feature of Satan is ambivalent. The author has infused his own spirits and passion into Satan’s character. Satan’s fights with God are just like Milton’s fights with the society. Satan becomes a prolocutor of the author. They both are eager for freedom and both can’t escape from the unavoidable failure. That’s the tragedy—a hero’s tragedy. To Milton, it is the reality that he hates. He has worked so hard and enthusiastically for the society. However, at the end, it was still full of hypocrisy, dishonesty and inequality. It is a great sarcasm against his efforts and his ideality. So he would miss the past glorious time and hesitate to divorce the society. That also caused the ambivalence of the author as well as that of Satan.Finally, since man is the product of the society, he is inevitably limited by it all the time. So in a society that is full of tyranny and blood-violent, the author’s good dreams are sure to be mercilessly murdered. While Satan is the embodiment of the author, he must incarnate human being’s character, which is confined to his environment. Then Satan’s evil thoughts and actions are somewhat in accordance with Milton’s psychological activities under that kind of circumstance. Neither Satan nor Milton should be damned for that, for it’s the time and ill society that caused the rebellion in man’s mind. Though Milton thought of himself as a Christian, his inner sympathies with rebellion, anger and revolution often color the poem. Milton is of the devil’s party without knowing it. Satan’s defiance of the Divine Will is indispensable to the continuance of his identity, a predicament that raises him to tragic status. All these aspects are the refraction of Milton, who is quite ambivalent both as a frustrated revolutionist and a puritan under such kind of circumstance.Chapter 3 Potential Readers’Influence on the Formation ofthe Dual Character of Satan’s Image When reading a literary work, people always read it from the study of。
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2). Works of his adult years:
a. pamphlets on religious reform Of Reformation in England《论英国改革》 b. pamphlets on marriage and divorce: Doctrine and
Discipline of Divorce
Lecture 9
John Milton —
Paradise Lost
Jacob—1674 )
He remained outside both Donne’s and Jonson’s influence
Paradise Lost takes its place in western literature along with Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aneid《伊尼伊德》, and Dante’s Divine Comedy and in English literature with Beowulf and Spenser’s Fairie Queene.
《离婚的戒律与学说》 c. Areopagitica 《论出版自由 》 a prose work for the freedom of the press d. Defence of the English People 《为英国人民声辩》 — A pamphlet against the divine right of the king. — People made the king, so the king should do everything for the people.
e. The Second Defence of the English People 《再为英国人民声辩》
3. His revolutionary career
1). Pamphleteering in the cause of religious and civil liberty in 1641-60. 2). Appointed Latin Secretary to Cromwell’s Council of State in 1649. 3). Censor and editor of the Commonwealth paper, Mercurius Politicu in 1651. Latin Defense of the People of England. 4). Totally blind in 1652 and imprisoned for a short time after the restoration and then retired to private life.
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1660-1674: Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671), and Samson Agonistes (1671).
1). Milton’s Works of His Early Days
Poems written in Cambridge and at Horton: a. On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity 《基督诞 生晨颂》, first important work b. L’Allegro《快乐的人》 twin lyrical poems Penseroso《幽思的人》 Rhyme: abbacdeec c. Comus 《科玛斯》a mask假面剧, in blank verse d. Lycidas 《利西达斯》, expressing the pathos(哀颂)of his friend Edward King’s premature death
ton’s Religion
1). Milton believed that each individual Christian should be his own church, without any establishment to encumber him. 2). In his later years, Milton came to view all organized Christian churches, whether Anglican, Catholic or Presbyterian, as an obstacle to true faith.
1. John Milton's Times
• 1642-1649: English Civil War – King/Anglican Clergy vs. Parliament (dominated by Puritans) • Protestant Revolution (Death of King Charles I) • 1649-1660: No British King – 1649-1653: Commonwealth – 1653-1658: Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell – 1660: Restoration (of King Charles II)
4. Milton’s literary career
• 1625-1640: short poems: L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (1632), Comus (1634, 宴会欢乐之 神), and Lycidas (1638) 1640-1660: pamphlets and tracts: Areopagitica (1644《论出版自由》); The Defense of the English People (1650); The 2nd Defense of the English People (1650).