In my reading of Milton criticism I have discerned what I feel to be a major deficiency, a deficiency consequent upon a too narrow approach to Paradise Lost. Whether they are anti-Miltonists who claim that Paradise Lost offers little to the twentieth-century - except the first two books; or orthodox Christian critics: who read Paradise Lost with an extreme doctrinal bias; or critics favourable to Milton and not narrowly doctrinal - the major Milton scholars, by succumbing to Milton's stated intentions when those intentions come into conflict with the impressions of the poetry, have easily adopted the traditional attitude towards the action in Eden: they accept the dictum that Adam and Eve are not human, until! the Fall. They give Milton little credit for humour, for the creation- of domestic comedy. Professor A.J.A. Waldock (Paradise Lost and Its Critics)) has correctly noticed that Milton's statements of intention do not always match his performances. By reading the poem in the light of his thesis, I have in this paper -after my first chapter on Milton criticism - attempted to show how Milton the poet has transcended Milton the doctrinaire by creating In Eden a good deal of domestic comedy. It is my belief that Adam and Eve are individuals - and human - before the Fall, and that when we view them (and Raphael) as real people acting and interacting in character, we will see that the action in Paradise is instinct with the humour of domestic comedy. In the second chapter, although I have stressed the humour in the middle books, I have not neglected the pathos that accompanies this humour. In my third chapter I have tried to show how this reading of Eden - a reading which succumbs to the poetical impressions rather than to the doctrinal statements - has its effect on the poem as a whole, how it makes the poem rather a human tragedy than a divine comedy. The final chapter is summary impart; but in the last section: I endeavour to mitigate the impression- that the thesis might have created - that Paradise Lost is merely a tragedy of two individuals - by stressing the poetical power of the element of myth In the poem. This thesis is written in the belief that any approach to Paradise Lost which stresses - favourably or unfavourably -the doctrine of the poem as against the poetical impressions (when the two clash) will have little appeal to the non-orthodox reader, and will miss the vital humanity with which Milton has invested his epic. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to isolate and examine aspects of Paradise lost which identify it as a myth. The problem involves two matters: how Milton's version of the creation and the fall differs from the Biblical and doctrinal accounts, and how Milton's poem reflects certain traits characteristic of mythologizing in general. The introductory first chapter establishes a working definition of "myth", based primarily upon Greek precedents. It also attempts to define the distinct kind of consciousness reflected by myths and mythic poets, a consciousness based upon an illusion of reality which is credited as accurate and factual. From this starting point, the four major figures of Paradise Lost are subsequently examined for evidence of how Milton's poem achieves a similar illusion and a clearly Puritan expression of the mysteries of life and death. Since the emphasis will be on Milton's myth and not on the development of mythologies or on Milton's place in Christian and classical traditions in English literature, discussion is limited to Paradise Lost itself, with only occasional and selected reference to the chief Greek mythic poets, Homer and Hesiod. In Chapters two through five, each of the four figures is discussed first from a logical point of view, to indicate in a negative way how they conform to the non-rational aspect typical of mythical thought. Each figure is then discussed in terms of the definition of myth laid down in chapter one to indicate how Milton adopts and expands upon non-rational and contradictory elements in order to achieve a new figure and to remake the mystery each figure embodies. The conclusion reached is that Paradise Lost is a myth in its own right, remodeled to suit Milton's particular purposes and expressive of Puritan consciousness. It is suggested that, once the key terms of Milton's myth ("Goodness," "Evil," "Disobedience," "Free Will) are understood as mysteries, not philosophical abstractions, and once it is understood how they complement and fulfill one another, the story of Paradise Lost becomes more comprehensive, valid, and pertinent. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

There exists a wide divergence of opinion as to whether Milton is an orthodox Christian. This thesis argues that upon examination Milton's alleged heresies come out quite clearly as transpositions of orthodox belief rather than as departures from it, and that Milton as the author of Paradise Lost emerges as an outstanding Christian apologist because he soared in his singing robes to present the orthodox Christian story of redemption with unsurpassed beauty and eloquence. This re-examination of the problem of Milton's relationship to orthodoxy centers upon Paradise Lost and The Christian Doctrine, in which there is doctrinal consistency. According to the poet's own terms of reference the appeal to Scripture as described in the Westminster Confession is the true criterion for orthodoxy. In the face of mainstream Christianity's claim that Milton's beliefs must be measured against the creedal statements, Milton holds that not only his beliefs but the creeds themselves must be weighed in the balance of Scripture. Milton's deviation from the established norm of the early creedal statements is seen to be negligible, but when he unequivocally disagrees with the Nicaean Creed which states definitively the Trinitarian position, he has been thought to put himself outside orthodoxy's circle. However, this thesis argues that Milton can only be charged with heresy if the question of his relationship to the Nicaean Creed is superficially regarded or grossly oversimplified. Accordingly, Milton's alleged heresies--his anti-Trinitarianism, materialism, and mortalism--are examined against the background not only of the content of the classical statements regarding these subjects but also of the fundamental conceptions that the statements of Athanasius, Augustine and others were intended radically to emphasize. Ultimately, the argument for Milton's orthodox imagination and intention depends upon a demonstration of the fact that Milton's theological deviations are not the result of the omission of any of creedal orthodoxy's vital elements but rather the result of emphasis of certain points. This proposition finds its crucial test in Milton's attitude toward the doctrine of the atonement. In Paradise Lost Milton uses several transpositions of orthodox belief rather than heresies and employs them to forward his poetic purposes. The process of selection and manipulation is seen to be governed not only by a powerful and positive religious sensibility, but also by an unerring sense of what is artistically appropriate. How Milton, the Puritan, achieved expression in the form of the epic is, in simple terms, the account of how his emphasis on will provides the momentum of the great argument, and how the elements of traditional Christianity are emphasized, subordinated, or transposed to suit the poet's driving purpose. Milton's announced purpose of justifying the ways of God to men is fulfilled in a strange but revealing manner. A God who is ipso facto beyond comprehension is subjected to rational analysis within the confines of epic convention. Some low moments and absurdities result. Yet, in spite of some logical impasses, Milton succeeds magnificently. Not all Adam's questions are answered but he experiences a Paradise within him, happier far. The consumation of Milton's argument and the resolution of the reader's doubt come with the realization, O goodness infinite, goodness immense! That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good; more wonderful Then that which by creation first brought forth Light out of darkness! (XII, 469-73) This ultimate triumph, so Miltonic and yet so entirely orthodox, so imaginatively satisfying and so in keeping with the whole structure of the poem, is the final proof that, doctrinally as well as poetically, we have here "nothing but well and fair". / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Milton's poetic thought especially as expressed in Paradise Lost consists of three basic elements, God, man, and the Evil One. For Milton as a Seventeenth-century Christian the first and last of these two elements are absolutes while Milton's adherence to Renaissance humanism means that man also has a place of prominence in the poet's view of the totality of things. Each of the three elements in Milton's intellectual framework is in polar tension with each of the other two. From the tension between man and God arises the conflict of human concerns with divine imperatives resulting in such dualities as: body and soul, matter and spirit, the pleasures of the flesh and the demands of the spirit, secular human culture and the will of God, reason and revelation, salvation by human effort and salvation by divine grace. The tension between good and evil involves conflicts between human sin and divine righteousness and between human suffering and the ultimate beneficence and justice of God. These dualities occur in Milton's poetry with a frequency which suggests that they constitute a continuing problem m the poet's life and thought. This thesis attempts to show that in his poetry Milton consistently sought to unify and resolve these dualities but that the means by which he tried to do so and the extent to which he was successful differ from one poem to another. In the first group of poems, which includes all the early minor poems written before Comus and Lycidas, dualities tend not to be very deeply felt or very firmly pressed. Where resolution is necessary between two opposites, this resolution is, as a rule, complete and is achieved without strenuous effort. In the second group of poems, which includes Comus and Lycidas, there are deeply felt oppositions which clash strongly throughout the poems. These dualities are, on the whole, not completely resolved in the course of the individual poems; much tension remains at the end of each work and oppositions are often simply juxtaposed without resolution. Such resolution as does result is achieved by oblique and unexpected means. The final group of poems includes Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. These three poems are as full of dichotomies as the two works which immediately precede them. The oppositions are also as deeply felt as m the earlier two poems but by vast expenditures of energy are triumphantly resolved and held in dynamic balance. The resolutions achieved in these three poems are complete and are attained in direct ways. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

This is a preliminary investigation of the empirical and formal conditions necessary to provide a full description of the metrical structure of Paradise Lost. My study is immediately concerned with the scansion of a corpus of 2018 lines of the poem. The centre of the study is the specification of a generative model set to provide structural descriptions, i.e., scansions. Some anomalies of this model are considered in the final chapter. A scansion is recorded for each line in the corpus. I provide an impressionistic survey of lexical and syntactic phenomena in the corpus, an analysis of equivalence-substitution metrical analysis, a taxonomy of elision by apocope in the corpus, a brief investigation of elision by syncope and a speculative analysis of caesura. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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This survey focuses on German-language studies of John Milton's Paradise Lost, based on a bibliography of more than 140 German-language publications dating from 1651 to the present. Its purpose is to describe and evaluate these studies and to make their arguments accessible to readers who have difficulties locating, obtaining, and/or reading these texts.Chapters 1-4 give an account of Milton's reception in Germany and Switzerland. Topics discussed include the evaluation of Milton as poet and man, the influence of Milton's Paradise Lost on the development of German literature (Klopstock's Messias), early Milton studies, German translations of Milton's Paradise Lost, the teaching of Milton's works in Germany, and the evaluation of the poem for the present generation. Chapters 5 to 10 survey twentieth-century German-language criticism of Paradise Lost. Topics include the literary tradition; the drama plans; structure and style; cosmology and theology; and interpretations of the fall.Outstanding twentieth-century German studies include Hiibener's analysis of stylistic tension (1913); Bastian's analysis of the problem of temptation (1930); Wickert's examination of Milton's drama plans (1955); Grun's interpretation of the fall (1956); MoritzSiebeck's structural and aesthetic justification of the last two books of Paradise Lost (1963); Spevack-Husmann's examination of the relevance of the medieval tradition of allegorical and typological myth interpretation for Milton's mythological comparisons (1963); Markus's study of the parenthesis as rhetorical means of psychological influence (1965); Hagenbuchle's analysis of the fall(1969); Maier's examination of contrast and parallel as structural elements (1974); Slogsnat's exploration of the dramatical structure and tragic nature (1978); Schrey's account of Milton's reception in Germany (1980); and Klein's study of astronomy and anthropocentric in Milton's attitude towards science (1986). These studies deserve to be better known by the English-speaking scholarly community for their different points of view and their good understanding of Milton's art.Milton's Paradise Lost is still appreciated in Germany and continues to have many readers. / Department of English

An overview of the prose writings of John Wesley, and the hymn writing of his brother Charles, shows that John Milton was an important influence on both men. A search of the literature indicates that critics have rarely noticed this, and although some work has been done on John's abridgement of Paradise Lost, there are no qualitative studies of its effect on the hymnody of Charles. Although the singing of hymns is a potential way of influencing language and doctrine of all singers, it is particularly important for people who have little other education. Charles Wesley, as the most prolific English hymnwriter, was influential in educating generations of church-goers. He used Paradise Lost in several ways: l)by simple appropriation of diction, 2) by combining it with the Bible in four specific ways, i.e., a) simple addition of images and language from Paradise Lost to biblical sources, b) magnification of a biblical idea by projecting it through a scene in Paradise Lost, as in the case of the hymn, "Soldiers of Christ Arise" which is influenced by Book 5, c) the use of the Bible and Paradise Lost as joint "pre-text" to create a new concept, and d) the use of Paradise Lost to "Christianise" a Psalm. Psalm 24 is used as an example. Obvious reasons why Charles Wesley might wish to imitate Milton, such as Milton's popularity in the eighteenth century, and Wesley family connections with Milton, are explored and considered not significant, but a common classical education is important. The two men have similar theological views in two doctrines essential to the Wesleyan revival: a) justification by faith and b) universal redemption. Other similarities are their expression of views on covenant theology, the nature of the goodness of God, and the name of God as "all in all." Their audiences were different but their purposes were similar: to teach "serious godliness" by inculcating doctrine and inspiring faith in a way that would touch the minds and hearts of their readers. Three appendices are presented: one on the problem of the hymn as a literary genre, the second on the audience for Wesley hymns, and the third on the history of literary criticism of the Wesleys. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The thesis pioneers a new methodology for the analysis of early modern literature: it embarks on a stylistic appreciation of Paradise Lost using early modern methods of interpretation and comprehension, specifically logic. In doing so it engages in the contest between historicist and stylistic criticism, providing a new methodology by which these two approaches are united to perform historically appropriate stylistic analysis of literary texts. Logic formed the bedrock of all early modern intellectual operations, including the literary, and it was the art used for all forms of analysis and interpretation. Yet in modern studies, logic has suffered from its own interdisciplinary dexterity: it is comparatively seldom studied, and when examined this tends to be in connection within a specific field of interest. As such there is a lack of a comprehensive developmental understanding of this subject in line with its original pragmatic purposes. This thesis addresses this quandary by examining a wide range of texts from the period to produce a syncretic appreciation of this art, similar to that acquired by early modern students. Having extrapolated the principles of early modern logic the second half of the thesis applies these in a practical way to analyse Milton’s style in Paradise Lost, reaching a new appreciation of the poem in accordance with the logical precepts that enabled its original production. The overarching aim of the thesis is to produce an innovative methodology enabling historically appropriate stylistic analysis of early modern texts, uniting the customarily disparate approaches of historicist and stylistic criticism in a literal and pragmatic way to open the possibility for future application of this methodology to other early modern literary texts.