Major Authors: John Milton

Readings

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. New York, NY: Alfred Knopf, 1996. ISBN: 9780679879244.

———. The Subtle Knife. New York, NY: Alfred Knopf, 1997. ISBN: 9780679879251.

———. The Amber Spyglass. New York, NY: Alfred Knopf, 1999. ISBN: 9780679879268.

Paradise Lost

Genesis 1-5 (PDF)

Areopagitica — two key passages from Milton’s defense of a free press, which bear on issues in “PL” (including God’s conferral of free will, and thus the capacity to fall, on human beings). (PDF)

Early English Books Online — use this site to view the original editions of Paradise Lost during Milton’s lifetime.

Oxford English Dictionary — use this dictionary to find the full range of a word’s possible meanings as well as its etymology.

The Bible

Milton Reading Room

NetBible — searchable text translated by scholars “from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts,” with commentary by translators. Use especially with Nyquist reading on Genesis.

Selected Bibliography — this selection from the Dartmouth Web site includes articles and books whose interests may align with yours, including (for instance) gender, science, politics/class. (PDF)

Grossman, Marshall. “Milton’s Dialectical Visions.” Modern Philology 82 (1984): 23-39

Gross, Kenneth. “Satan and the Romantic Satan: A Notebook.” In Re-Membering Milton: Essays on the Texts and Traditions. Edited by Mary Nyquist and Margaret W. Ferguson. New York, NY: Methuen, 1988, pp. 318-341. ISBN: 9780416397406.

Descartes, First Meditation — See para 12, for the famous hypothesis of the evil demon (referenced in Gross, p. 319).

Blake, “Marriage of Heaven and Hell.”

Flesch, William. “The Majesty of Darkness.” In John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Modern Critical Interpretations). Edited by Harold Bloom. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publications, 1987. ISBN: 9780877544210.

Parker, Patricia. “Eve, Evening, and the Labor of Reading in Paradise Lost.” In John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Modern Critical Interpretations). Edited by Harold Bloom. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publications, 1987. ISBN: 9780877544210.

Empson, William. “Heaven.” In John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Modern Critical Interpretations). Edited by Harold Bloom. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publications, 1987. ISBN: 9780877544210.

Kerrigan, William. “‘One First Matter All’: Spirit as Energy.” In John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Modern Critical Interpretations). Edited by Harold Bloom. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publications, 1987. ISBN: 9780877544210.

Lewis, C. S. Preface to Paradise Lost. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1942. ASIN: B000GLT4TG.

Nyquist, Mary. “Gynesis, Genesis, Exegesis, and the Formation of Milton’s Eve.” In Cannibals, Witches, and Divorce. Edited by Marjorie Garber. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780801877384.

Outline of Nyquist reading. (PDF)

Fish, Stanley. “The Milk of the Pure Word.” In Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780674857476.

Translations of Ramus, for Stanley Fish reading. (PDF)

Lewalski, Barbara Kiefer. “‘Paradise Lost’ and Milton’s Politics.” Milton Studies 38 (2000): 141-168.

Rumrich, John Peter. “Uninventing Milton.” Modern Philology 87 (1990): 249-265.

———. “Radical Heterodoxy and Heresy.” In A Companion to Milton. Edited by Thomas N. Corns. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003, pp. 141-156. ISBN: 9781405113700.

Schedule of Readings and Presentations in Milton Criticism

These critical readings are assigned to all, and will be available in a few days as PDF files on the MIT Server. For each one, I’d like to have one of you give a brief (10-12 minute) presentation — on the major points of the argument, highlights of the interpretation, pluses and minuses of the approach — followed by perhaps 5-10 minutes for questions and discussion.

You are welcome (and encouraged) to meet with me beforehand to talk about the essay you’ll be presenting.

Note: Your notes for the presentation can function as your journal for that week, and the essay due on Lec #12 can be handed in later by the presenter for that day.

LEC #	READINGS
4	Paradise Lost, book II Lewis, Preface to Paradise Lost
5	Lewis, Perelandra, chapters 1-8
6	Paradise Lost, book III Empson, “Heaven”
7	Lewis, Perelandra, chapters 9-16 Quiz
8	Paradise Lost, book IV Nyquist, “Gynesis, Genesis, Exegesis,” parts i-iv
9	Paradise Lost, book IV (cont.) Nyquist, parts v-vii
10	Paradise Lost, book V Fish, “The Milk of the Pure Word”
11	Pullman, Golden Compass
12	Paradise Lost, book VI Kerrigan, “‘One First Matter All’: Spirit as Energy”
13	Pullman, Golden Compass (cont.) Lewalski, “Paradise Lost and Milton’s Politics”
14	Paradise Lost, book VII Rumrich, “Uninventing Milton” ———, “Radical Heterodoxy and Heresy”
15	Paradise Lost, book VIII Gross, “Satan and Romantic Satan”
16	Paradise Lost, book IX Flesch, “The Majesty of Darkness”
17	Pullman, Subtle Knife
18	Paradise Lost, book X Parker, “Eve, Evening, and the Labor of Reading” in Paradise Lost
19	Pullman, Subtle Knife (cont.)
21	Paradise Lost, book XI Grossman, “Milton’s Dialectical Vision”
22	Pullman, Amber Spyglass