John Milton Greed Quotes
On the Neglect of Human Emotion in “Paradise Lost”: A Rebuttal
Within Virginia Woolf’s letter and diary entry, she discusses her thoughts on John Milton’s writing style within “Paradise Lost,” and reveals her feeling that Milton, while clearly an expert of literary description, does very little to touch upon human passions and emotion within his poem. Upon reading “Paradise Lost,” it is clear that Woolf has a point; extravagant descriptions of heaven, hell, angels and God abound within the epic, but instances of human sentiment are more difficult to come across. Woolf goes as far as to say that Milton “entirely neglects the human heart.” While Woolf’s statement is not entirely accurate, Milton’s ornate imageries and accounts of venerated …show more content…
The fiend portrays regret even further in lines 79 and 80 in Book IV; he says “Is there no place / Left for repentance, none for pardon left?” Satan seems to think there is no way to repent other than submitting, and he refuses to submit for “dread of shame (4.82)” from the lesser demons that followed him in his revolt against God. Later on in this same passage, Satan admits that God would be as unlikely to forgive him as Satan would be to ask to be forgiven, because he would be certain to end up with “a worse relapse / And heavier fall (4.99-100).” As a character, Satan is noticably conflicted at certain points within the text about combatting …show more content…
Those familiar with John Milton’s life will recall “Eikonoklastes,” a controversial pamphlet he produced in 1649 arguing that regicide is acceptable when dealing with an oppressive monarch (Beer, 247). The arguments contained within Milton’s pamphlet are echoed in Satan’s speech about God’s domination of Heaven in lines 84 through 124 during Book I. Satan says “That glory never shall His wrath or might / Extort from me: to bow and sue for grace / With suppliant knee and deify His pow’r (1.110-113)” in a direct exclamation of resistance to the idea of yielding to a dictatorial power, then goes on to say that their “grand Foe (1.122)” “Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav’n (1.124).” To the informed reader, Satan’s statement clearly reiterates Milton’s own ideas about a cruel autocrat. Evidently Milton did not agree with the idea that God himself should be seen as a tyrant, as He granted us free will, but Satan’s imperfect viewpoint of God nevertheless reflects the author’s hatred of
Within Virginia Woolf’s letter and diary entry, she discusses her thoughts on John Milton’s writing style within “Paradise Lost,” and reveals her feeling that Milton, while clearly an expert of literary description, does very little to touch upon human passions and emotion within his poem. Upon reading “Paradise Lost,” it is clear that Woolf has a point; extravagant descriptions of heaven, hell, angels and God abound within the epic, but instances of human sentiment are more difficult to come across. Woolf goes as far as to say that Milton “entirely neglects the human heart.” While Woolf’s statement is not entirely accurate, Milton’s ornate imageries and accounts of venerated …show more content…
The fiend portrays regret even further in lines 79 and 80 in Book IV; he says “Is there no place / Left for repentance, none for pardon left?” Satan seems to think there is no way to repent other than submitting, and he refuses to submit for “dread of shame (4.82)” from the lesser demons that followed him in his revolt against God. Later on in this same passage, Satan admits that God would be as unlikely to forgive him as Satan would be to ask to be forgiven, because he would be certain to end up with “a worse relapse / And heavier fall (4.99-100).” As a character, Satan is noticably conflicted at certain points within the text about combatting …show more content…
Those familiar with John Milton’s life will recall “Eikonoklastes,” a controversial pamphlet he produced in 1649 arguing that regicide is acceptable when dealing with an oppressive monarch (Beer, 247). The arguments contained within Milton’s pamphlet are echoed in Satan’s speech about God’s domination of Heaven in lines 84 through 124 during Book I. Satan says “That glory never shall His wrath or might / Extort from me: to bow and sue for grace / With suppliant knee and deify His pow’r (1.110-113)” in a direct exclamation of resistance to the idea of yielding to a dictatorial power, then goes on to say that their “grand Foe (1.122)” “Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav’n (1.124).” To the informed reader, Satan’s statement clearly reiterates Milton’s own ideas about a cruel autocrat. Evidently Milton did not agree with the idea that God himself should be seen as a tyrant, as He granted us free will, but Satan’s imperfect viewpoint of God nevertheless reflects the author’s hatred of