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Paradise Lost: A Biography

By (author) Alan Jacobs

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normal price: R 806.95

Price: R 726.95

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The life and times of Miltonâ€™s epic poem about Satanâ€™s revolt against God and humanityâ€™s expulsion from paradise John Miltonâ€™s Paradise Lost has secured its place in the pantheon of epic poems, but unlike almost all other works in the pantheon, it is intimately associated with religious doctrine and its implications for how we live our lives. For more than three centuries, it has been a flashpoint for arguments not just about Christianity but also about governance, rebellion and obedience, sexual politics, and what makes poetry great. Alan Jacobs tells the story of Miltonâ€™s enduring poem, shedding light on its composition and reception and explaining why it resonates so powerfully with us today. Composed through dictation after Milton went blind in 1652, Paradise Lost centers on an ancient biblical answer to the eternal question of how evil came into the world. It has proved impossible to disentangle the defense or critique of the poem from attitudes toward Christianity itself. Does Christian theology entail monarchy or democracy? Are relations between the sexes thwarted by pompous and tyrannical men or by vain and disobedient women? Jacobs traces how generations of readers have grappled with these and other questions, along the way revealing how Miltonâ€™s poem influenced novelists like Mary Shelley and Philip Pullman and has served as the inspiration for paintings, operas, comic books, and video games. An essential companion to Miltonâ€™s poetic masterpiece, this book shows why Paradise Lost continues to serve as a mirror reflecting our own complex attitudes about power and authority, justice and revolt, and sin and salvation.