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Title
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Polysemy in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
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Creator
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Harrawood, Suzanne., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
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Abstract/Description
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This is a study of the polysemous language in John Milton's Paradise Lost. Unlike some of his seventeenth-century contemporaries, Milton did not harbor a mistrust of highly symbolic and interpretable language, and the fact that he did not has deep repercussions in Milton's great epic. I examine the porous and mutable nature of Edenic language, and how it challenges the idea of prelapsarian language as devoid of polysemous gloss. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve's perfect acquisition of...
Show moreThis is a study of the polysemous language in John Milton's Paradise Lost. Unlike some of his seventeenth-century contemporaries, Milton did not harbor a mistrust of highly symbolic and interpretable language, and the fact that he did not has deep repercussions in Milton's great epic. I examine the porous and mutable nature of Edenic language, and how it challenges the idea of prelapsarian language as devoid of polysemous gloss. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve's perfect acquisition of knowledge is not undermined by the symbolism of language. Nevertheless, Satan cleverly exploits the polysemy of Edenic language in order to effectuate Adam and Eve's transgression. Ultimately, Milton's Paradise Lost departs from common seventeenth-century theories about language and knowledge. Milton's view is unique in that it retains a positive view of symbolic language and suggests that postlapsarian humanity is bereft of divine guidance and left to struggle for knowledge through experience.
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Date Issued
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2009
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/332913
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Narration (Rhetoric), Polysemy, Semiotics
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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Title
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Satan's imprisoning words: examining the value of language in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
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Creator
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Ryan, Victoria., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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Abstract/Description
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Through a critique of Satan's misuse of language, John Milton's Paradise Lost makes the greater argument that language should coincide with God's creation narrative. The poem proposes a theory of how language should be used: to connect the mutable world of humans to the immutable world of God. I propose that Milton uses Satan to portray both a fear and a faith in the power of language. Satan makes language the accomplice to his sin, attempting to use language, which has the power of creating...
Show moreThrough a critique of Satan's misuse of language, John Milton's Paradise Lost makes the greater argument that language should coincide with God's creation narrative. The poem proposes a theory of how language should be used: to connect the mutable world of humans to the immutable world of God. I propose that Milton uses Satan to portray both a fear and a faith in the power of language. Satan makes language the accomplice to his sin, attempting to use language, which has the power of creating a world that seems true, to replace God's Truth. Milton's poem neither solely endorses the theory that language points directly to absolute Truth, nor does it endorse the theory that language is an arbitrary system of signs which impose meaning the world. Milton blends these two theories of language, connecting the Idealist system to what will be Friedrich Nietzsche's.
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Date Issued
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2009
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209999
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Language, Devil in literature, Narration (Rhetoric)
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Format
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Document (PDF)
