Milton and the Republican Politics of Paradise Lost

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How can Paradise Lost be seen as a statement on republican ideals? Frank Lovett argues that rather than contradicting his political views, Paradise Lost aligns with Milton’s earlier writings by depicting monarchy and artificial hierarchies as evil, as they violate the natural right to freedom and equality.

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Institution: Washington University in St Louis

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How can Paradise Lost be seen as a statement on republican ideals? Frank Lovett argues that rather than contradicting his political views, Paradise Lost aligns with Milton’s earlier writings by depicting monarchy and artificial hierarchies as evil, as they violate the natural right to freedom and equality.

Image courtesy of interviewee. October 24, 2024

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This video video discusses the interpretation of John Milton's "Paradise Lost," particularly focusing on the character of Satan and the poem's underlying political themes. The speaker, a historian of political ideas rather than a literary scholar, argues that Milton, known for his Republican political writings, embeds these ideas within the poem.

Satan's character is presented as not only sympathetic but also reflective of Republican ideals, which parallels Milton's own anti-monarchical views. This video video relationship complicates traditional interpretations of the text that view Satan solely as a villain. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding "Paradise Lost" within its historical context, where early readers would have recognized Milton's political stance.

Furthermore, the text highlights that both Satan and Eve's rebellion stems from their resentment against the artificial hierarchy imposed by God, promoting a message against unjust political institutions. The speaker challenges the notion that Milton turned away from politics late in life, arguing instead that "Paradise Lost" continues his earlier political arguments.

The initial lukewarm reception of "Paradise Lost" compared to John Dryden's adaptation, which omits the political elements, illustrates how the poem was perceived in Restoration England. The speaker suggests that the political implications of "Paradise Lost" became more appreciated as time passed and political tensions eased. Overall, the text underscores the intricate relationship between Milton's literature and his political philosophy.

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Here are five key points from the video regarding Milton's "Paradise Lost" and the connection to his political writings:

1. **Satan as a Sympathetic Character**: The video discusses how the character of Satan in "Paradise Lost" is presented in a sympathetic light, which is noteworthy given Milton's reputation as a political writer. The author points out that Satan's character employs Republican language, suggesting deeper political parallels between Satan's rebellion and Milton's anti-monarchical sentiments.

2. **Milton's Republican Ideals**: The author emphasizes that Milton's political beliefs, which favored a self-governing republic rather than monarchy, significantly influence the interpretation of "Paradise Lost." Both Satan and Eve, in their rebellion against God, reflect Milton's ideas about hierarchy and injustice, portraying a clear critique of hierarchical political structures similar to monarchy.

3. **Convideoual Reading**: The author argues for an intellectual historical approach to Milton's work, stressing the importance of understanding the political and social convideo in which "Paradise Lost" was written. This convideo was crucial for Milton’s contemporaneous readers, who were aware of his controversial political ideas expressed in pamphlets and writings.

4. **Continuity of Political Thought**: Contrary to the view that Milton shifted away from political writing to poetry due to disillusionment, the author contends that "Paradise Lost" is a continuation of Milton's earlier political writings. The themes of rebellion and equality in the poem echo his political arguments against monarchy, rather than depicting a change in his convictions.

5. **Initial Reception and Adaptation**: The video notes that "Paradise Lost" had a muted initial reception compared to John Dryden's adaptation, "The State of Innocence," which omitted the political arguments present in Milton's original work. This may explain why Dryden's version was initially more popular; it presented a more palatable narrative for Restoration England, free from the challenging political implications Milton included.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from your video discussing John Milton and "Paradise Lost":

1. **Character of Satan**: “...one of the most famous, or maybe I should say, notorious, aspects of the poem, is that the most interesting character in the poem, is the character of Satan.”

2. **Milton's Political Ideology**: “Milton was a known, in his own day as a famous, political notorious political writer. He was considered a Republican, which in the convideo meant that he was against monarchy.”

3. **Connection between Satan and Republicanism**: “It’s not simply that Satan is a potentially sympathetic character, but he actually seems to be a Republican, which is what Milton's own political position was.”

4. **Interpretive Challenges**: “...the portrayal of Satan and Milton's political ideas...the few people who have noticed this particular problem have really struggled to address it.”

5. **Intellectual History Approach**: “...I think it’s really important to read a video, in full appreciation of the convideo in which it was written and published.”

6. **Initial Readers’ Understanding**: “The initial readers of Paradise Lost would've had a very clear understanding of his politics.”

7. **Republican Argument in the Narrative**: “...there is actually a Republican argument inherent in the story, the narrative itself...both Satan and Eve in Paradise Lost...rebel against God for the same reason.”

8. **Eve's Rebellion**: “...the poem is quite explicit about the fact that her sin is a product of her having been relegated to an inferior position in an artificial hierarchy.”

9. **Political Institutions and Legitimacy**: “...political institutions like monarchy that are hierarchical, are unjust and illegitimate...”

10. **Continuation of Political Ideas**: “Paradise Lost is a continuation rather than a withdrawal from politics...he is now presenting those arguments in a different form.”

11. **Initial Reception of Paradise Lost**: “The one curious thing about Paradise Lost, is that its initial reception was a little lukewarm...”

12. **Comparison with Dryden’s Adaptation**: “...he takes out all of the Republican political arguments in Paradise Lost...which is basically the same story, minus the political argument, was more acceptable.”

These quotes encapsulate the major themes in the analysis, including the complexity of interpreting Milton’s "Paradise Lost" through the lens of his political beliefs, the character of Satan, and the poem's initial reception.

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Course is one of the most famous, contributions

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to English literature.

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Um, and one of the most famous,

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or maybe I should say, notorious, aspects of the poem,

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is that the most interesting character in the poem,

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is the character of Satan Lake, famously equipped that,

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Milton is of the Devil's party, but doesn't know it.

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Um, and a lot of the interpretive debate around Milton

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and Paradise Lost in particular, has,

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focused on this sort of problematic aspect of the text.

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Um, but I am coming at Milton from

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a somewhat different point of view.

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I'm not a literary scholar.

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I'm a a historian of political ideas.

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Um, and so I'm coming at approaching Milton

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through his political writings.

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Um, and Milton was a known, in his own day as a a,

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a famous, political notorious political writer.

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He was considered a Republican,

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which in the context meant that he was against monarchy.

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He thought England should be a self-governing, republic,

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or as they said then a commonwealth.

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If you are, immersed in Milton's political writings,

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and are familiar with his Republican ideas,

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and then look at Paradise lost, the thing

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that immediately strikes you, as quite extraordinary,

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is that, it's not merely that, that,

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Satan is a sympathetic character.

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Uh, lots of people. There's lots

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of cases in literature of sympathetic villains.

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It's a sort of classic trope actually.

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Um, but what's more remarkable is that much of

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what Satan says and his allies say,

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is actually in Republican language, very similar

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to the political language Milton himself had used earlier.

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Um, and so that presents,

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that changes the puzzle quite dramatically.

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It's not simply that Satan is a,

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potentially sympathetic character,

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but he actually seems to be a Republican, which is

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what Mill's own political position was.

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Um, and that raises a whole host of,

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challenges in interpreting, interpreting the ply,

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interpreting the poem.

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Milton has been studied by literary scholars

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who are less familiar with his political writings.

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Um, and so not being familiar with, Republican ideas.

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Um, you know, they're reading the text simply as a,

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a literary artifact.

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Um, and so many of them have simply not noticed

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the connection between, the portrayal of Satan and,

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and Milton's political ideas.

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Um, so there are exceptions to that.

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And so the few people have noticed this particular problem

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have really struggled to address it.

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And the the typical, approach is to try

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to explain it away in some way or other.

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Um, and often that's by resort to some sort

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of esoteric reading of the play.

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Uh, so you try, they try to read between the lines

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and they try and, and,

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and come up with a, a sort of symbolic interpretation.

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For example, you know, the people

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Have tried to suggest that the play is supposed to be a,

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a warning to its reader.

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So you read it, you sympathize with Satan,

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and then sort of realize that, I need

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to be on guard against the dangers

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of political rhetoric or something like that.

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You know, those readings are,

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can be interesting in their own right,

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but, you know, essentially what they're trying

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to do is explain away the problem,

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or avoid the problem through a very complicated,

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symbolic, metaphorical esoteric reading of the text.

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I'm approaching Milton from the point of view

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of intellectual history,

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and as an intellectual historian, I think

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that there are certain ways that you

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ought to approach texts.

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And particular, I think it's really important to,

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read a text, in full appreciation

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of the context in which it was written and published.

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Um, and so that means, in particular,

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immersing yourself in the literature of the time period

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and trying to understand how his immediate readers,

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the people he, you know, was,

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had in mind when he was writing,

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how they would've encountered the book, knowing

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what they knew at the time,

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and understanding the way, what the sort

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of discourse was like at that time.

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Um, and so from the point of view of his immediate readers,

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they would've had a very firm

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and clear idea of his politics.

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'cause he was quite, he was not an

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obscure figure by any means.

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He wrote many, many, political pamphlets.

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He was, his ideas were considered very

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controversial and very public.

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Um, and so the initial readers

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of Paradise Loss would've had a very clear

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understanding of his politics.

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And so the thing that struck me in reading Paradise last

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almost certainly would've struck

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them, right off the bat.

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And so I think in, in trying to understand it from the point

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of view of intellectual history, it's very important

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to understand the context in which it was written

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and approach it from that point of view.

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Um, and I should say, I should stress again that, you know,

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that's not the only way to read a book,

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depending on what your aims are.

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Um, texts often escape the purposes of their authors

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and can mean things to us that they may not have met

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to their, the writer of that, that text.

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And that's, that's fine,

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and that could be a very enriching way of reading a book.

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But from the point of view of intellectual history,

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I'm mainly interested in what Miling was attempting to do

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and what he was attempting to say,

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and what his immediate audience

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would have heard on reading Paradise Loss in the

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context in which it was written.

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So the, you know, the 1660s roughly, when you start

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to really examine Paradise loss carefully, one,

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what you also notice is that the Republican,

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the Republicanism expressed in the book is not confined

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to Satan's speeches.

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Um, and this is sort of the Achilles heel of attempts

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to interpret it as simply a warning about the

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dangers of rhetoric or something.

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Um, I think that there is actually a Republican argument

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inherent in the story, the narrative itself.

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Um, and that argument is consistent with what Satan

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and his Confederates actually say

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and is consistent with what Republican views,

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including Milton's own views

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Actually were.

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Um, and so that, I think that's very important

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to understand this sort of unity across those

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three, those three things.

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Um, so the central point

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or the central argument, is that both Satan

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and Eve in Paradise Loss, they both rebel against God

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and they rebel against God for the same reason.

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In both cases, they've been,

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an artificial hierarchy has been introduced by God,

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and they've been reg relegated

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to an inferior position in that hierarchy.

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And, and both of them, instinctively rebel against

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that, resent it.

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Um, so it's true that, that Eve, eats

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of the Apple and the famous sort of, scene from,

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from Genesis, and she, does it be partly

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because she's being tempted by Satan.

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But the really striking thing is that she is, he is able

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to tempt her precisely

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because she's already resentful,

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about the inferior station in which she's been placed.

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Um, and he exploits that quite explicitly,

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encouraging her in the thought that if she eats from the

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Apple, from the Tree of Knowledge,

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that she might actually be able to become more equal

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with Adam, her husband, you know, her husband,

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in, in Paradise.

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So not only does he tempter with that particular line

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of argument, it's after the fact when she explains

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or reflects on what she did,

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that's the language she uses too.

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So the, the poem is quite explicit about the fact,

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that her sin is a product of,

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herb having been relegated

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to an inferior position in an artificial hierarchy.

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Satan rebel's initially against God for the same reason.

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Um, you know, the text doesn't spend as much time on that,

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but there are, flashback scenes that, that discuss

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the re rebellion of the, of the angels in the distant past.

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And there too, it's pretty clear that,

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God introduced a new artificial hierarchy,

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placed Satan in a lower position in that hierarchy.

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Um, and Satan objected

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and rebelled against it, as did his Confederates.

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The overall message is quite straightforward,

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and it's a very much a, a classic Republican argument

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and an argument that Milton himself made in his own

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political writings.

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Um, and that is that

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that political institutions like monarchy

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that are hierarchical, are unjust illegitimate

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because they're being imposed over against a sort of natural

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equality of human beings.

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What is often said, about Milton is that he had sort

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of two stages, that he was a,

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a political writer when he was younger,

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and that he became dis somewhat disillusioned with politics

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and turn to poetry later in life.

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Um, and there's always been some complications with that

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because he actually wrote poetry early

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on as well, and so on. Um,

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But I, I think this reading really challenges that,

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because, the argument in Paradise Lost, in a way,

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is a continuation

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of the political arguments he made earlier in his career.

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So it's quite clear, I think,

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if the interpretation is correct,

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that not only did he not change his mind

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or turn away from politics, at be,

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but he was reaffirming his central political ideals even

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late in his literary career, even

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after the restoration of the monarchy in 6 16 60.

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Um,

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and in his most famous work, paradise Lost is a continuation

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of that political argument.

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Um, it, you know, the most that can be said is

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that he's changing his approach instead

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of writing political tracks,

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which would've been very dangerous for him in,

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restoration England,

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he is now presenting those arguments in a different form.

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There's another complication with that traditional story,

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of course, which is that he actually started writing

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Paradise Loss before the restoration and finished it

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after, and at at the same time was writing,

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Republican political tracks, including a very famous one,

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called the Ready

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and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth.

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And that he wrote was writing that at the same time

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that he was writing Paradise Lost.

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Um, and it expresses many of the same ideas

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as you find in Paradise Lost,

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and they were being written around the same time.

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So, I think it's pretty clear

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that Paradise Lost is a continuation rather than a

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withdrawal from politics, rather than a change of heart

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or change of mind about his central political ideas.

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The one curious thing about Paradise Lost, is that,

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its initial reception was, a, a little lukewarm,

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and in fact,

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a friend of his, wrote a,

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a dramatic adaptation called the State of Innocence.

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Um, this was John Dryden

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and the state of innocence was very popular.

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Um, nobody reads it anymore.

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Uh, you know, a hundred years later, the state

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00:11:04.965 --> 00:11:08.045
of innocence was forgotten about in Paradise Loss

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was, was elevated.

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Um, but at the time in the initial reception,

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the state of innocence was actually quite popular

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and the Paradise Lost was quite muted.

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And the striking thing about this adaptation

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that Dryden did, is that he takes out all

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of the Republican political arguments in Paradise Law.

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So it's sort of stripped down Paradise laws.

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Um, and I think my interpretation can help explain why in

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restoration England state of innocence,

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which is basically the same story,

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minus the political argument, was more acceptable

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to the restoration audience.

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Uh, whereas Paradise Lost, which was,

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I think at the time I suspect, you know, quite easily seen

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as a Republican text, was sort of sidelined.

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And it was only later as sort of political passions cooled,

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that people started rereading Paradise Lost.

Quick Answers

Interpreting Milton: Satan as a Republican Character

00:00:00 - Course is one of the most famous, contributions to English literature. and one of the most famous, or maybe I should say, notorious, aspects of the poem, is that the most interesting character in the poem, is the character of Satan Lake, famously equipped that, Milton is of the Devil's party, but doesn't know it. and a lot of the interpretive debate around Milton and Paradise Lost in particular, has, focused on this sort of problematic aspect of the text.

00:00:36 - a somewhat different point of view. I'm not a literary scholar. I'm a a historian of political ideas. and so I'm coming at approaching Milton through his political writings. and Milton was a known, in his own day as a a, a famous, political notorious political writer. He was considered a Republican, which in the context meant that he was against monarchy. He thought England should be a self-governing, republic,

00:01:05 - If you are, immersed in Milton's political writings, and are familiar with his Republican ideas, and then look at Paradise lost, the thing that immediately strikes you, as quite extraordinary, is that, it's not merely that, that, Satan is a sympathetic character. lots of people. There's lots of cases in literature of sympathetic villains. It's a sort of classic trope actually. but what's more remarkable is that much of

Interpreting Satan: Milton's Republican Language and Challenges in Analysis

00:01:38 - is actually in Republican language, very similar to the political language Milton himself had used earlier. and so that presents, that changes the puzzle quite dramatically. It's not simply that Satan is a, potentially sympathetic character, but he actually seems to be a Republican, which is what Mill's own political position was. and that raises a whole host of, challenges in interpreting, interpreting the ply, interpreting the poem. Milton has been studied by literary scholars

00:02:09 - and so not being familiar with, Republican ideas. you know, they're reading the text simply as a, a literary artifact. and so many of them have simply not noticed the connection between, the portrayal of Satan and, and Milton's political ideas. so there are exceptions to that. And so the few people have noticed this particular problem have really struggled to address it. And the the typical, approach is to try

00:02:43 - and often that's by resort to some sort of esoteric reading of the play. so you try, they try to read between the lines and they try and, and, and come up with a, a sort of symbolic interpretation. For example, you know, the people Have tried to suggest that the play is supposed to be a, a warning to its reader. So you read it, you sympathize with Satan, and then sort of realize that, I need to be on guard against the dangers of political rhetoric or something like that.

Contextualizing Milton: An Intellectual Historical Approach

00:03:13 - can be interesting in their own right, but, you know, essentially what they're trying to do is explain away the problem, or avoid the problem through a very complicated, symbolic, metaphorical esoteric reading of the text. I'm approaching Milton from the point of view of intellectual history, and as an intellectual historian, I think that there are certain ways that you ought to approach texts. And particular, I think it's really important to, read a text, in full appreciation of the context in which it was written and published.

00:03:46 - immersing yourself in the literature of the time period and trying to understand how his immediate readers, the people he, you know, was, had in mind when he was writing, how they would've encountered the book, knowing what they knew at the time, and understanding the way, what the sort of discourse was like at that time. and so from the point of view of his immediate readers, they would've had a very firm and clear idea of his politics. 'cause he was quite, he was not an

00:04:16 - He wrote many, many, political pamphlets. He was, his ideas were considered very controversial and very public. and so the initial readers of Paradise Loss would've had a very clear understanding of his politics. And so the thing that struck me in reading Paradise last almost certainly would've struck them, right off the bat. And so I think in, in trying to understand it from the point of view of intellectual history, it's very important to understand the context in which it was written and approach it from that point of view. and I should say, I should stress again that, you know,

Interpreting 'Paradise Lost': Authorial Intent and Republican Themes

00:04:50 - depending on what your aims are. texts often escape the purposes of their authors and can mean things to us that they may not have met to their, the writer of that, that text. And that's, that's fine, and that could be a very enriching way of reading a book. But from the point of view of intellectual history, I'm mainly interested in what Miling was attempting to do and what he was attempting to say, and what his immediate audience would have heard on reading Paradise Loss in the context in which it was written.

00:05:21 - to really examine Paradise loss carefully, one, what you also notice is that the Republican, the Republicanism expressed in the book is not confined to Satan's speeches. and this is sort of the Achilles heel of attempts to interpret it as simply a warning about the dangers of rhetoric or something. I think that there is actually a Republican argument inherent in the story, the narrative itself. and that argument is consistent with what Satan

00:05:53 - and is consistent with what Republican views, including Milton's own views Actually were. and so that, I think that's very important to understand this sort of unity across those three, those three things. so the central point or the central argument, is that both Satan and Eve in Paradise Loss, they both rebel against God and they rebel against God for the same reason. In both cases, they've been,

Rebellion Against Hierarchy: Eve's Temptation and Satan's Influence

00:06:25 - and they've been reg relegated to an inferior position in that hierarchy. And, and both of them, instinctively rebel against that, resent it. so it's true that, that Eve, eats of the Apple and the famous sort of, scene from, from Genesis, and she, does it be partly because she's being tempted by Satan. But the really striking thing is that she is, he is able to tempt her precisely

00:06:57 - about the inferior station in which she's been placed. and he exploits that quite explicitly, encouraging her in the thought that if she eats from the Apple, from the Tree of Knowledge, that she might actually be able to become more equal with Adam, her husband, you know, her husband, in, in Paradise. So not only does he tempter with that particular line of argument, it's after the fact when she explains or reflects on what she did,

00:07:26 - So the, the poem is quite explicit about the fact, that her sin is a product of, herb having been relegated to an inferior position in an artificial hierarchy. Satan rebel's initially against God for the same reason. you know, the text doesn't spend as much time on that, but there are, flashback scenes that, that discuss the re rebellion of the, of the angels in the distant past. And there too, it's pretty clear that,

Milton's Republican Ideals in Paradise Lost

00:08:00 - placed Satan in a lower position in that hierarchy. and Satan objected and rebelled against it, as did his Confederates. The overall message is quite straightforward, and it's a very much a, a classic Republican argument and an argument that Milton himself made in his own political writings. and that is that that political institutions like monarchy that are hierarchical, are unjust illegitimate

00:08:31 - equality of human beings. What is often said, about Milton is that he had sort of two stages, that he was a, a political writer when he was younger, and that he became dis somewhat disillusioned with politics and turn to poetry later in life. and there's always been some complications with that because he actually wrote poetry early on as well, and so on. But I, I think this reading really challenges that,

00:09:04 - is a continuation of the political arguments he made earlier in his career. So it's quite clear, I think, if the interpretation is correct, that not only did he not change his mind or turn away from politics, at be, but he was reaffirming his central political ideals even late in his literary career, even after the restoration of the monarchy in 6 16 60. and in his most famous work, paradise Lost is a continuation

Shifting Political Expressions in Paradise Lost

00:09:34 - it, you know, the most that can be said is that he's changing his approach instead of writing political tracks, which would've been very dangerous for him in, restoration England, he is now presenting those arguments in a different form. There's another complication with that traditional story, of course, which is that he actually started writing Paradise Loss before the restoration and finished it after, and at at the same time was writing, Republican political tracks, including a very famous one,

00:10:06 - and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth. And that he wrote was writing that at the same time that he was writing Paradise Lost. and it expresses many of the same ideas as you find in Paradise Lost, and they were being written around the same time. So, I think it's pretty clear that Paradise Lost is a continuation rather than a withdrawal from politics, rather than a change of heart or change of mind about his central political ideas. The one curious thing about Paradise Lost, is that, its initial reception was, a, a little lukewarm,

00:10:44 - a friend of his, wrote a, a dramatic adaptation called the State of Innocence. this was John Dryden and the state of innocence was very popular. nobody reads it anymore. you know, a hundred years later, the state of innocence was forgotten about in Paradise Loss was, was elevated.

Political Themes and Reception of Paradise Lost

00:11:13 - the state of innocence was actually quite popular and the Paradise Lost was quite muted. And the striking thing about this adaptation that Dryden did, is that he takes out all of the Republican political arguments in Paradise Law. So it's sort of stripped down Paradise laws. and I think my interpretation can help explain why in restoration England state of innocence, which is basically the same story, minus the political argument, was more acceptable

00:11:57 - whereas Paradise Lost, which was, I think at the time I suspect, you know, quite easily seen as a Republican text, was sort of sidelined. And it was only later as sort of political passions cooled, that people started rereading Paradise Lost.

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