Lecture 10 - God and Mammon: The Wealth of Literary Memory
<< previous session
|
next session >>
Overview:
This second lecture on
Paradise Lost
looks at hell and its inhabitants, as depicted in Books I and II. Milton's
struggle both to match and outdo his literary predecessors is examined by way of allusions to the works of
Homer and Edmund Spenser, particularly the cave of Mammon episode in Book Two of
The Faerie Queene
.
The presence of classical mythological figures, such as Medusa and Mulciber, in the Christian hell of
Paradise Lost
is pondered, along with early distinctions in the poem, frequently blurred, between good and
evil, beautiful and ugly, and heaven and hell.
Reading assignment:
John Milton. Complete Poems and Major Prose.
(Hughes):
Paradise Lost
, Books I and II
Additional reading:
Spenser,
The Faerie Queene
This is the end of the preview.
Sign up
to
access the rest of the document.
- Fall '08
- Rogers
- John Milton, Paradise Lost , The Faerie Queene, Faerie Queene
-
Click to edit the document details