The Voice of the Redeemer in Paradise Lost

PMLA ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 1082-1089
Author(s):  
Joseph H. Summers

After the initial intoxication, the Fall of Man is delineated in Paradise Lost largely in terms of the charges and counter-charges, the fear and hatred, the self-aggrandizement and the isolation of Adam and Eve. Only after Adam's most bitter denunciation of Eve is the direction changed with Eve's famous “Forsake me not thus, Adam … ”(x.914–936). Eve's speech is the turning point, for it is here that one of the guilty pair first attempts to take upon herself the burden of guilt, shows love and asks for love. The direction once taken, Adam is moved to similar affection, and the resulting reconciliation between man and woman is the inevitable prologue and type of the ensuing reconciliation between man and God.

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hillyer

AbstractHobbes could not have written Paradise Lost: the longest of his few references to the story of Adam and Eve drains their relationship of drama and complexity; most aspects of human sexuality he addresses only in classifying them as off limits because of their indecency, neglecting topics in some respects germane to the clarification of his philosophy; and his original English verse amounts to one line for each of that epic's twelve books. This short poem nonetheless represents an intriguing persuasion to love written in his extreme old age. Moreover, his treatment of “LUST” in The Elements of Law takes a significantly non-judgmental form by the standards of his time, though not marking so substantial an innovation as Simon Blackburn takes it to be. Most importantly, the anti-puritanical thrust of Hobbes's attack on Presbyterian preachers in Behemoth again illustrates his capacity for entertaining—however briefly—an essentially uncensorious view of human sexuality, this time in conjunction with a critique of sexual repression, as imposed by those clergymen in their role as spiritual advisers, that sheds invaluable light on the self-consciously scandalous libertinism of younger contemporaries often identified in his own day and since as “Hobbists”.


1999 ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Editorial board Of the Journal

In the 10th issue of the Bulletin “Ukrainian Religious Studies” in the rubric “Scientific Reports and Announcements” there are in particular the following papers: “Religious Studies and Theology” by A.Kolodny, “Activity of the Orthodox Mission in Ukraine on the Turning Point of the XIX-XXth Centuries” by G.Nadtoka, “Religion in the Spiritual Heritage of V.Lypinsky” by L.Kondratyk, “Church as a Factor of the Self-identification of the Nation in the Cultural and Civilization Environment” by O.Nedavnya, “The Problems of Development of The Social Teaching of the Catholicism” by V.Sergyiko, “The God-Thunder Perun in the Pagan World-outlook of the Ancient Rus’” by N.Fatyushyna and other papers


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Martineau

In Book I of Paradise Lost, John Milton (1608-1674) asserts his intent to “justifie the wayes of God to men” (Paradise Lost1 I 26), paving the way for a revolutionary discussion of human nature, divinity, and the problem of evil, all couched in an epic retelling of Satan’s fall from grace, his temptation of Adam and Eve, and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, as recounted in the Book of Genesis. In his treatment of the biblical account, Milton necessarily broaches a variety of subjects which were both relevant during his time and remain relevant in ours. Among these topics, and certainly one of the most compelling, is the matter of human free will.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Lissington

<p>The masculine nature of the angels in Paradise Lost, in conjunction with their sexuality as revealed in Book VIII, prompted C. S. Lewis to try and explain away, not entirely convincingly, any potential “homosexual promiscuity” in his Preface to the epic. But other critics are unconcerned about the angels’ sexuality, probably because, unlike Lewis, they see them as essentially immaterial beings.  In what follows I argue that a complete understanding of the angels’ sexuality must rest on Milton’s gradual revelation of the angels’ morphic substance, critical to their sexuality and gender identity. Milton’s use of the conventions associated with classical pastoral in depicting the angels suggests a male homosocial model analogous with the learning institutions of Milton’s own historical context – helpful when it comes to establishing the type of society, and relationships, in the heaven of Paradise Lost. Similarly, an exploration of bi-erotic elements occurring elsewhere within the Miltonic canon helps contextualise the bisexual potential of angelic desire.  With these things in mind, a comprehensive understanding of the angelic sexuality can be achieved through close study of instances of desire, and sexuality, in Paradise Lost. The strong parallel between the angels, and Adam and Eve infers the potential for their descendants to evolve into a similar state of intimacy free of “Of membrane, joynt, or limb, exclusive barrs”.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Lissington

<p>The masculine nature of the angels in Paradise Lost, in conjunction with their sexuality as revealed in Book VIII, prompted C. S. Lewis to try and explain away, not entirely convincingly, any potential “homosexual promiscuity” in his Preface to the epic. But other critics are unconcerned about the angels’ sexuality, probably because, unlike Lewis, they see them as essentially immaterial beings.  In what follows I argue that a complete understanding of the angels’ sexuality must rest on Milton’s gradual revelation of the angels’ morphic substance, critical to their sexuality and gender identity. Milton’s use of the conventions associated with classical pastoral in depicting the angels suggests a male homosocial model analogous with the learning institutions of Milton’s own historical context – helpful when it comes to establishing the type of society, and relationships, in the heaven of Paradise Lost. Similarly, an exploration of bi-erotic elements occurring elsewhere within the Miltonic canon helps contextualise the bisexual potential of angelic desire.  With these things in mind, a comprehensive understanding of the angelic sexuality can be achieved through close study of instances of desire, and sexuality, in Paradise Lost. The strong parallel between the angels, and Adam and Eve infers the potential for their descendants to evolve into a similar state of intimacy free of “Of membrane, joynt, or limb, exclusive barrs”.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Steven Herrman

In this essay the author gives a concise overview of the use of the word transpersonal in the life and writings of the Israeli Jungian analyst, Erich Neumann, who was born in Berlin Germany in 1905 and lived from 1934 until his untimely death, in 1960, in Tel Aviv. The paper provides readers with an overview of the correspondence that took place between Neumann and Jung from 1934-1959 and traces the way in which the word transpersonal was used in their mutual efforts to map out the terrain of the human psyche. What is made clear in the paper is that while Jung remained within the epistemological limits of empirical psychology in his theory of the collective unconscious, Neumann attempted to extend Jung’s epistemology into metaphysical territory, and in so doing he charted out a structural diagram of the psyche that extends beyond the archetypal field, to what he called the Self-field. The Self-field, Neumann argued, is a necessary postulate to include it in any complete inventory of depth-psychology that attempts to reach a new Weltanschauung. His attempts to extend Jung’s hypothesis of the Self into transpersonal territory began in his 1948 Eranos lecture in Ascona, Switzerland, “Mystical Man”. His calling from the Self led Neumann to venture forth a postulate of what he called a “New Ethic” for the field of depth-psychology as a whole. A distinction is made between the personal and archetypal shadow and evil, and the “Voice” Neumann refers to as part of the Transpersonal Self. The essay concludes saying it is tragic Neumann died at so young an age of 55, before he could formulate further how his Ethic related to his metaphysic. Neumann was the first Jungian analyst to present the world with a truly transpersonal theory of the Self that the author sees as essential reading for any transpersonal pedagogue who attempts to place Jungians in the history of the Integral movement. KEYWORDS Mystical man, numinous, Godhead, transpersonal, field-knowledge, Voice, Self-field, Wholeness, New Ethic, archetypal shadow, evil.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-213
Author(s):  
Roshaya Rodness

Jacques Derrida’s early critique of Husserlian phenomenology discusses the production of the ‘phenomenological voice’ as the consummate model of human consciousness. Challenging Husserl’s conviction that consciousness is produced from the self-enclosed act of ‘hearing-oneself-speak’, Derrida points to vocality as the complex site of the self’s relationship to presence and exteriority. The internal division between hearing and speaking, he argues, introduces difference into the generation of conscious life. The use of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) as a prosthetic for stuttering provides an opportunity to engage Derrida’s insights on the connection between consciousness and voice with an ear to the speech of people who stutter. DAF, which may reduce or increase dysfluency depending on the speech of the user, introduces a series of delays, alterations and supplements to speech that underwrite the heterogeneous experience of conscious life. What can the philosophy of deconstruction add to conversations about the function of DAF, and what can theory about and experiences with DAF teach us about the self’s presence to itself and the role of alterity in shaping speech? What does stuttering teach us about the necessity of dysfluency for all speech? This article examines the relation between the voice and the phenomenological voice, and between stuttering and prosthetics. Concluding with an analysis of Richard Serra’s experimental recording, Boomerang (1974), it argues that voice is always already prostheticized with alterity, and that in hearing-oneself-speak we exist with voice in an expansive and unfinished conversation with our own mystery.


Author(s):  
Dilan Tuysuz

John Milton, in his epic poem Paradise Lost, describes the expulsion of Adam and Eve from heaven, leading to the beginning of the oldest struggle. However, the representation of the devil in Milton's work, which is considered responsible for all evil in the world, is striking. The fact that Milton's devil's temptation has taken precedence over the story of expulsion of Adam and Eve is similar to Batman being overshadowed by the evil character Joker. Batman, who has many virtues and positive qualities as a superhero, has not impressed the audience as much as wicked Joker. But what makes the bad characters attractive to the reader/audience in Milton's Satan and the Joker? Is the Joker mentally ill? Is there a rebellion like the Satan's behind the Joker's malicious actions or is it possible to talk about a different motivation? The aim of this chapter is to explore the answers to these and similar questions by taking a journey through the psychology of evil. Thus, it will be possible to understand whether our admiration of bad characters is a reflection of the darkness within us.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document