《失乐园》有感

《失乐园》是 17世纪英国最著名的宗教诗人弥尔顿晚期三大诗作之一，是继《伊里亚特》、《奥德赛》和《神曲》后最伟大的史诗作品。原书共12卷，取材于《圣经》，是一部一万多行的长篇叙事诗。诗中讲述了这样的一个故事：撒旦和一群天使反抗上帝，失败后坠入地狱。撒旦为了复仇，潜入伊甸园，引诱人类始祖亚当和夏娃偷食禁果，结果触怒上帝，被逐出伊甸园，上帝也封锁了通往伊甸园的路。从此，人类再也找不到乐园。

要真正理解弥尔顿在《失乐园》中所要表达的情感，必须将他所处的背景联系起来：17世纪的英国，历时十余年轰轰烈烈的资产阶级革命运动遭到挫败，王朝实行复辟，全国一片混乱。在这样的艰难岁月中，诗人弥尔顿面对黑暗现实，依然斗志昂扬，奋笔疾书。《失乐园》是诗人多年来积极投身于革命斗争实践的艺术结晶，它凝聚了诗人对英国资产阶级革命进程的亲身感受，体现了诗人愤世嫉俗、向往自由、坚持反抗的斗争精神，那些歌颂叛逆者的响亮诗句构成了最动人的篇章。

弥尔顿的独到之处，就是在于他的《失乐园》并不局限于宗教题材，而是根据作品思想内容的需要出发，给宗教题材以适当的改革和创新。他一反传统的宗教传说，把万能的上帝映射成为现实生活中独揽大权的封建主义代表，却把撒旦颂扬成为一个叱咤风云、勇于反抗的英雄形象。撒旦虽然处于失败地位，但是不屈不挠，勇于向权威挑战，向世袭制挑战，是一个失败的英雄。亚当和夏娃无法抵制诱惑而偷食禁果，最后被逐出乐园，走向人间的艰难征途，从另一方面而言，人类的获罪是由于他们获得了知识，知羞辱，即便被所谓“主宰者”剥夺快乐又有何妨？！

在艺术上，《失乐园》整部诗作规模宏大，场景壮阔。特别是在撒旦与上帝的交战的描绘上，大气磅礴，气势恢宏，生动地再现了大革命的战争情景，有强烈的艺术效果。

即便如此，作为宗教题材的《失乐园》，在一定程度上宣扬了落魄的宗教思想，特别是把上帝描绘成无所不能、无所不在的存在，而向撒旦注入了嫉妒、自大的艺术元素，这在一定程度上将之原先想要体现的艺术精华中和了，但在现在看来，《失乐园》的艺术和现实意义在同时代的作品中实属翘楚，着实为一部不

错的读物。

第二篇：失乐园英文读后感(John Milton and his Paradise Lost)

John Milton and His Paradise Lost

Abstract:

Paradise Lost which played a powerful role in promoting the development of the epic was the product of Puritanism, as well as rooted in Milton’s personal beliefs and faith. The creative style of Milton was different from any writers after him. Although Milton was involved in Puritan movement, his religious ideas and political arguments all promoted he development of capitalism. Therefore, we can saw that secular humanism which provided a new way to deal with social problems was the combination of the thoughts of humanist and religious doctrine. It can be said, Paradise Lost was the epic of mankind, but also an epic display of human nature.

Keywords:

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Puritanism, revolutionary theme, English bourgeois

Milton was born in London in 1608. He was born a poet. He believed that a true poet was derived from the love of life, while one’s happiness in

heart was the source of creativity. A few months after his marriage, his wife deserted him and returned to her family in Oxford shire. The reason is unknown, but there are many possibilities. During this, Milton probably began the arguments for his four Divorce Tracts. His thinking on divorce caused him the most trouble with the authorities. An orthodox Presbyterian view of the time was that Milton's views on divorce constituted a one-man heresy. Milton abandoned his campaign to legitimize divorce after 1645, but he expressed support for polygamy in the De doctrinal Christiana, the theological treatise that provides the clearest evidence for his views. Milton believed that marriage depended on compatibility between partners, and without that, people are violating their own personal liberty. Later, because of the tragedy of his marriage, he wrote something reflecting marriage principles.

John Milton was an English poet, author, polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica. He was both an accomplished, scholarly man of letters and polemical writer, and an official serving under Oliver Cromwell. His views may be described as broadly Protestant, if not always easy to locate in a more precise religious category. Milton was writing at a time of religious and political flux in England, and his poetry and prose reflect deep

convictions, often reacting to contemporary circumstances. He wrote also in Latin and Italian, and had an international reputation during his lifetime.

After his death, Milton's personal reputation oscillated a state of affairs that has largely continued through the centuries. He early became the subject of partisan biographies, such as that of John Toland from the nonconformist perspective, and a hostile account by Anthony à Wood. Samuel Johnson described him as "an acrimonious and surly republican"; but William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", at a time when his reputation was particularly in play. He remains, however, generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language and as a thinker of world importance."

With the parliamentary victory in the Civil War, Milton used his pen in defense of the republican principles represented by the Commonwealth. The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) defended popular government and implicitly sanctioned the regicide; Milton’s political reputation got him appointed Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in March 1649. Though Milton's main job description was to compose the English Republic's foreign correspondence in Latin, he also was called upon to produce propaganda for the regime and to serve as a censor. In October 1649 he published Eikonoklastes, an explicit

defense of the regicide, in response to the Eikon Basilike, a phenomenal best-seller popularly attributed to Charles I that portrayed the King as an innocent Christian martyr. However, restoration occurred inevitably. Thus, with the fire of anger on the restoration, Milton created a world-famous epic three-step. He published Paradise Lost in 1667, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes in 1671. The great poet died in 1674.

John Milton is one of the most famous poets in the 17th century in British history. During this period, the United Kingdom had made significant progress in capitalist development.

“However, the feudal autocratic monarchy had seriously hindered the development of British capitalism. The contradiction between the two classes had been to the white-hot stage that must need revolutionary means to solve the problem.” Milton said. Being a revolutionary activist, he was willing to contribute his passion to his motherland. He opposed to royal tyranny and was prepared to attack it by creating poets.

Paradise Lost was written in such a historical period. The theme of Paradise Lost was chosen from the foundation of American literary---Bible. Some of these theological concepts and terminology related to human nature is essential for understanding the epic. The theme

of Paradise Lost was chosen from the “Genesis.” He gave the only 100 words bizarre story twists and turns and made it a new epic.

Paradise Lost is consisted of 12 parts. Part1, the reasons and results of the events; part2, Satan and angles discuss how to fight against God; part 3, God decides how to give human a gift; part 4, Satan meets with Adam and Eve and his temptation; part 5, the angels warn Adam about Satan’s temptation; part 6, the angels and Satan fight against God; part7, Adam asks angles about world problems, and gets answers; part8, Adam asks angles about how celestial bodies run, but he is not satisfied with the answers; part 9, Satan pretends as a snake and ask Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; part10, God is so angry and Adam also regret; part11, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Paradise; part12, Adam and Eve leave the paradise and then lost the paradise.

Paradise Lost describes that: after escaping the dungeon, Satan went to the God to establish the Garden of Eden for human ancestors---Adam and Eve. They ate the forbidden fruit tree due to the temptation of Satan. Therefore, because of their ignorance and depravity, God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Their fault was the original sin of human which caused death, suffering, famine, pestilence on Earth. However, God still gave human the chance to salvation. God sent Jesus

Christ to do redemption price, so that mankind could return to paradise with tough faith and sincere repentance. Milton revealed the failure of State and the Church through the research of history. Many of his controversial works reflect this phenomenon. Many commentators have analyzed the works of Milton. The commentators who convinced the Marxist said that: in society, all undertakings of the literati who were keen on promoting the development of cultural were ultimately based on economic change. John ? Milton is a British progressive camp and a typical representative of the bourgeoisie. His literary thought reflected in his works fully reflects the status of the English bourgeois revolution in that period.

Paradise Lost which played a powerful role in promoting the development of the epic was the product of Puritanism, as well as rooted in Milton’s personal beliefs and faith. The creative style of Milton was different from any writers after him. Although Milton was involved in Puritan movement, his religious ideas and political arguments all promoted he development of capitalism. Therefore, we can saw that secular humanism which provided a new way to deal with social problems was the combination of the thoughts of humanist and religious doctrine. It can be said, Paradise Lost was the epic of mankind, but also an epic display of human nature. Milton understood the true meaning of

truth and his own environment in which he used to express the epic figures of the revolutionary ideas and his fighting spirit. And he also expressed the despair and anguish brought by the restoration.

Milton was progressive bourgeoisie in fact, and his advanced thinking related to social progress. He believed that social progress, as well as the doctrine of God was the rational laws of nature. Therefore, the advanced productive forces will eventually replace the bourgeois which hindered the pace of capitalist development. That was a perfect reflection of historical inevitability. In Paradise Lost, the Satan fought against God and the feudal kingdom of heaven that was the civil war between the two classes. Justice would eventually prevail over evil. The King Charles I was brought to the guillotine. However, with the Republic of depravity and corruption, the bourgeoisie compromised with the House of Stuart king Charles II, and they broke the revolutionary movement the restoration together. Representatives of the advanced productive forces went against the law of social development. Milton used Adam and Eve to map the historical events. Its meaning was very clear. From an objective point of view, the masses were the driving force of historical progress and the ultimate source of social progress. But the bourgeoisie ignored the power of people. Milton expressed his own political position and revolutionary consciousness by Paradise Lost. He made a series of

thinking about human nature. This was why he used human degradation to be the creative theme. Therefore, we could say that his epic was based on history. He was a devout Puritan, but his political views were applicable to the materialist outlook on life.

In Paradise Lost, the Satan was the most successful image the author shaped, especially in the first two volumes. He was an image of a rebel. The romantic poet, Blake Byron Shelley, highly praised for this image of heroism. He said:" Satan was on behalf of the imaginative soul of mankind." The reason why the character Satan could get admiration of many romantic poets and readers was mostly that this image reflected the will of freedom.

First of all, the epic praised Satan’s spirit of resistance.

In traditional concepts, Satan was the devil from hell, the scum of angels, human enemies. Because of his ambition and rebellion he was thrown into the abyss of misery by God. However, in Paradise Lost, the poet portrayed Satan as a brave hero that went against the usual religious beliefs.

The intention of describing this extraordinary momentum and power of Satan was to emphasis his courageous and prudent and his spirit of hating

tyrants and resisting God. Although the struggle was failed, but he had never doubted that his struggle was a justice action, he had never regretted to fall into hell where he suffered in the flames and he had never been desperate and hopeless. He convinced that his spirit of resistance would never disappear and his revolutionary willing would never depress. It should be said that: this was the reflection of the revolutionary spirit of the bourgeois and a song of all revolutionary fighters.

The epic also describes that, after being expelled from heaven and thrown into the flames of hell, Satan was even still full of the indomitable fighting spirit. He vowed to continue the confrontation with God. When reading those words filled with courage, all readers could see his will to overcome all the difficulties and accomplish all his plans.

Second, the epic had also criticized the autocratic rule of God. Whether in the ancient Greek myth, or religious traditions, God had always been portrayed as the ruler of the universe and the absolute authority. Even in Dante's famous work Divine Comedy filled with modern spirit, God was still praised as a true, good, and kind image. While in Paradise Lost, God was a typical image of tyranny. The poet condemned God through Satan’s words. On the surface, God had given human free will; in fact, he had suppressed the true freedom.

Obviously, the poet's criticism and condemnation of God were out from the social reality of United Kingdom. The tyrant was the embodiment of Stuart. Milton laid his own political tendencies in the great Satan. He portrayed Satan's resistance as the justice resistance to authoritarian rule and a bold challenge to the violent regime.

In Paradise Lost, Lenovo was rich and metaphor was innovative. This was another artistic characteristic of Paradise Lost. This was mainly reflected in the psychological description of Adam and Eve when they were driven out after eating the forbidden fruit. The story of Adam and Eve in Bible was just a few words and very specific. There was no document about their life and inner feelings. But in Paradise Lost, the story was written vivid, flesh and colorful. In Milton’s imagination and description, the worldly things seemed to have feelings and emotions.

Milton had made the most powerful cry for freedom and equality. He attempted to suggest that the heaven paradise had lost, but the earth paradise would begin. The poet’s unique writing style created a new poetry generation. This was also the most important contribution of Paradise Lost to British literary language

In short, Paradise Lost combined the political, ideological, religious, artistic elements, and achieved the perfect unity of arts. This epic gives

use a wonderful art pleasure.

Reference:

1, John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1667;

2, Yu Hai Jun, A paean to English bourgeois, 2007;

3, Chang Yan Li, Analysis of the purpose and creative theme of Paradise Lost, 2007;