16. Paradise Lost, Books VII-VIII

Milton (ENGL 220)

This lecture on Books Seven and Eight of Paradise Lost focuses on Milton's account of the Creation. The poet's persistent interest in the imagery of digestion is explored with help from the proto-scientific theories of the seventeenth-century philosopher Paracelsus. The moment at which Milton names and assigns a gender to his muse is examined. Finally, Milton's use of gender in the Creation account is explored in light of previous discussions of the poem's complex sexual hierarchy; particular emphasis is placed on Raphael's similarly gendered account of celestial hierarchy in Book Eight.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Milton's Theory of Monism
05:09 - Chapter 2. "Paradise Lost" Book VII: The Book of Creation
36:09 - Chapter 3. "Paradise Lost" Book VIII: Reasserting the Subordination of Woman to Man

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Fall 2007.