Paradise Lost :: essays research papers fc

John Milton was born in Bread Street, Cheapside, London, on the 9th of December 1608. The first sixteen years of Miltons life, coinciding with the last sixteen of the reign of James I. His father, a prosperous business man, was known ass a man of great taste, and was interested in the music of London at the time. Music was thus a part of the poets life since birth. His father forced him to get an education in exclusively scholarly areas. He was taught by Puritan clergymen who gave Milton his extreme ideas about beau ideal. At the age of eighteen he was excepted as a student of Christs College, Cambridge, and in less than two months moved up to University. He attended the prestigious Cambridge University four seven years where he learned Latin and canvass many books on religion. After schooling, he traveled all over Italy this is also the time of the Italian Renaissance and learned much about theology, philosophy, and literature. He lived in the rich culture of Rome for almost ten years. After returning to England, he began writing and publishing stories in local papers. He wrote many disputable things about the government and matinee idol and was put on trial for Heresy upon all counts. His punishment was exile and his eyes were removed so he could Phillips 2no longer write. To the surprise of high officials he wrote the epic Paradise Lost A poem in ten books. It sold millions of copies, and is still considered the great piece of English literature ever written.On the 8th of November 1674 Milton died at the age of 66, due to gout-fever. He was buried the next Thursday beside his father.As verbalize in the first book of Paradise Lost, Miltons intentions for writing his religious epic are to assert Eternal Providence/And justify the ways of God to men (Book I, ll. 25-26). Miltons audience, of course, is a fallen audience like the narrator of the epic, Therefore, because the audience is innately flawed there is a danger that we may non read the text as it is intended to be read. Some may think Satan is the hero of the epic. Others may be inclined to blame God for allowing the fall to occur. However, both of these readings are shortsighted and are not what Milton explicitly intended. Therefore, to prevent these deviant readings Milton has deftly interwoven a theme of personal right for ones actions throughout the epic.