John Milton Paradise Lost Diction
The Complex Style, Diction, Tone and Syntax of John Milton John Milton was inspired to write a great epic, much like the works by Homer, Dante and Virgil, and with this inspiration he created Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost is an incredible piece of literature that tries to embody the idea of the epic poem. Milton puts a lot of effort (some even say too much effort) and significant thought into how he writes the story of The Fall of Satan, his infiltration of the Garden of Eden and the temptation of Adam and Eve. Milton produces this convoluted epic by utilizing style, diction, tone and syntax. Milton’s style is quite different from other writers, especially from the seventeenth- century. Milton writes his poem in a very complicated style that
is challenging for many readers to comprehend. Some critics, including famous writer, T.S Eliot, argue that Milton tries too hard to sound impressive and ends up sounding unintelligent. His choice of words, or diction, is not always wise and creates difficulty for the reader. An example of poor word choice is when Adam talks about how he and Eve will continue “manuring” the land in the Garden of Eden. ( Book IV, 628) This word may not be what the majority of people think it means. The over all diction is very ambitious and filled with words that are not very well known. Milton writes in a Latinate style, where the order of words is less important than it is in English. This syntax can be difficult to understand, especially for modern- day readers. It is very atypical of English syntax patterns. For example, Milton writes: “Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong flaming from th’ethereal sky.” (Book I, 44-45) The verb is placed later on in the phrase so that the audience feels a moment of suspense. Another way the syntax of Paradise Lost affects the story is how the long, complex sentences make the reader go through the poem more slowly and thoughtfully. While reading this very carefully, one may also pick up on the tone. Paradise Lost has a very serious tone, always reminding the audience that the beautiful Garden of Eden has fallen and is no longer here, gone with human’s innocence. It has a tragic tone, stating “Of man’s first disobedience… brought Death into the World and all our woe, with loss of Eden”. (Book I, 1-4) There is a bit of despair over the opening of God’s Creation to evil, sinfulness and death. Milton also has a misogynistic tone that blames everything terrible on the sinfulness and selfishness of women, which is represented by Eve. He declares women as narcissistic, “Of sympathie and love; there I had fixt mine eyes till now, and pin’d with vain desire” (Book IV, 465-466), and are at their best when they are submissive to their husbands. While this epic poem keeps one very occupied, it also brings a lot of thought. When the reader can get past the level of difficulty of Paradise Lost, the reader can find an interesting story of how a fallen angel ruled over evil and instigated human misery. There is plenty of detail to make the story interesting and could almost make one believe that all of this did happen at one time. No matter how extravagant Paradise Lost is, Milton has created a classic epic that will be studied for many generations.
is challenging for many readers to comprehend. Some critics, including famous writer, T.S Eliot, argue that Milton tries too hard to sound impressive and ends up sounding unintelligent. His choice of words, or diction, is not always wise and creates difficulty for the reader. An example of poor word choice is when Adam talks about how he and Eve will continue “manuring” the land in the Garden of Eden. ( Book IV, 628) This word may not be what the majority of people think it means. The over all diction is very ambitious and filled with words that are not very well known. Milton writes in a Latinate style, where the order of words is less important than it is in English. This syntax can be difficult to understand, especially for modern- day readers. It is very atypical of English syntax patterns. For example, Milton writes: “Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong flaming from th’ethereal sky.” (Book I, 44-45) The verb is placed later on in the phrase so that the audience feels a moment of suspense. Another way the syntax of Paradise Lost affects the story is how the long, complex sentences make the reader go through the poem more slowly and thoughtfully. While reading this very carefully, one may also pick up on the tone. Paradise Lost has a very serious tone, always reminding the audience that the beautiful Garden of Eden has fallen and is no longer here, gone with human’s innocence. It has a tragic tone, stating “Of man’s first disobedience… brought Death into the World and all our woe, with loss of Eden”. (Book I, 1-4) There is a bit of despair over the opening of God’s Creation to evil, sinfulness and death. Milton also has a misogynistic tone that blames everything terrible on the sinfulness and selfishness of women, which is represented by Eve. He declares women as narcissistic, “Of sympathie and love; there I had fixt mine eyes till now, and pin’d with vain desire” (Book IV, 465-466), and are at their best when they are submissive to their husbands. While this epic poem keeps one very occupied, it also brings a lot of thought. When the reader can get past the level of difficulty of Paradise Lost, the reader can find an interesting story of how a fallen angel ruled over evil and instigated human misery. There is plenty of detail to make the story interesting and could almost make one believe that all of this did happen at one time. No matter how extravagant Paradise Lost is, Milton has created a classic epic that will be studied for many generations.