Paradise Regained
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religious | |
Publication date | 1671 |
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Preceded by | Paradise Lost |
Paradise Regained is a
Milton composed Paradise Regained at his cottage in
Plot
Book 1
Jesus is
Jesus enters the wilderness and fasts there for 40 days, pondering His past and future. A seeming old man of the desert asks him as Son of God to turn stones into bread. Jesus, recognizing Satan, rebukes him for his lies. Satan pretends to be delighted to hear truth and begs permission to stay. Jesus says he can do whatever the Father in heaven allows. Night falls.
Book 2
Simon and Andrew saw Jesus baptized and realize He is Messiah, but lose Him and search for Him. They worry they have lost Him for good. Mary too wonders what has become of her Son, remembering that she lost Him once before when He was 12. Satan returns to his demons, warning them this temptation is going to be far more difficult than the fall of man. Belial advises using a honey trap, but Satan knows this will not work, thinking pride a stronger test.
Jesus, hungry, dreams of
Book 3
Satan flatters Christ, praising His wisdom, then taunts Him with his lack of achievement, saying
Satan then takes Christ to a high mountain, showing Him the kingdoms of the world. He suggests He will need an alliance with the
Book 4
Satan next shows Christ Rome, and offers it to Him. Christ once more rejects. Satan says all the kingdoms of the world are his to bestow if only Christ will bow the knee. Christs rebukes him for this blasphemy, quoting Exodus chapter 20.
Satan, realizing he is defeated, makes an attempt to interest Christ in the wisdom of Ancient Greece, but Jesus rejects this in favor of the Psalms and the Prophets. Satan angrily returns Christ to the wilderness and forces Him to spend a cold night in the middle of a Tempest amid hellish furies. Christ endures this. Satan, frustrated, takes Christ to Jerusalem and tells Him to throw himself off the pinnacle of the Jewish Temple, quoting a Psalm. Jesus quotes back, "Tempt not the Lord thy God". Satan falls. Angels help Jesus, singing of His victory over the devil, feeding Him, and returning Him to Mary.
Analysis
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Whereas Paradise Lost is ornate in style and decorative in its verse, Paradise Regained is carried out in a fairly plain style. Specifically, Milton reduces his use of simile and deploys a simpler syntax in Paradise Regained than he does in Paradise Lost, and this is consistent with Biblical descriptions of Jesus's plainness in his life and teachings (in the epic, he prefers Hebrew Psalms to
One major concept emphasized throughout Paradise Regained is the idea of reversals. As implied by its title, Milton sets out to reverse the "loss" of Paradise. Thus,
An anecdote recounted by a Quaker named Thomas Ellwood provides some insight into Paradise Regained's development. After studying Latin with Milton and reading the poet's epic Paradise Lost, Ellwood remarked, "Thou hast said much here of Paradise lost, but what hast thou to say of Paradise found?" Hearing this, Milton at first "sat some time in a muse" before changing the subject; however, sometime thereafter he showed to Ellwood a new manuscript entitled Paradise Regained. Some maintain that although he seemed to express gratitude to Ellwood in a letter, Milton in truth "passed on a friendly if impish fabrication" that made Ellwood feel like the inspiration for the poem.[3]
Notes
References
- Northrop Frye, The Return to Eden: Five Essays on Milton's Epics (Toronto: Toronto UP, 1965).
- Introduction to Paradise Regained, in The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton, ed. William Kerrigan, John Rumrich, and Stephen M. Fallon (New York: Modern Library, 2007).
- Barbara Lewalski, Milton's Brief Epic: The Genre, Meaning, and Art of Paradise Regained (Providence: Brown UP, 1966).
- Susanne Woods, introduction to Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained, published by Signet Classics.
External links
- Paradise Regained at Project Gutenberg
- E-text from the John Milton Reading Room
- Paradise Regained public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- "Symbolism in Paradise Regained" by Gilbert McInnis