Belief and Learning in Milton's Paradise Regained

Abstract

Milton's Paradise Regained is a biblical epic poem which dramatizes the Son's unwavering religious faith that leads him to resist all the temptations, including the irresistible lure into knowledge. However, its reader is sometimes at a loss by its strident denunciation of the traditional Greco-Roman learning. Milton's commitment to the traditional humanist studies (he owns the influence of Spenser, an author, on him) from his childhood and the Renaissance respect for classical literature make us somewhat doubt the explicit renunciation of classical learning. His shorter epic is so deeply embedded in the Western classical culture that the poem cannot be adequately appreciated without the knowledge of it. The poem is written in the form of an epic, whose origin is Greek literature. Milton conveys his Christian ideas through the epic form. The characterization of the protagonist, the Son, is noteworthy because despite his harsh attacks on classical literature and philosophy, he resembles some Greco-Roman figures, like the Greek heroes, Hercules or Oedipus, and the Roman Stoic, who represents endurance and reason and humanist knowledge. Endurance is a significant virtue to Christians and Stoics alike. However, the crucial Christian virtue like mercy, sacrifice, crucifixion, or resurrection is lacking in the epic's characterization of Jesus The very beginning of the poem echoes the Spenserian imitation of Virgil's Aneid. Also a great number of literary allusions to Spenser testify the influence of the secular literature on Milton's works. No matter how harshly the Son renounces the classics in praise of Christian values, the reader's knowledge of the humanist learning is necessary in order to understand the religious meaning. And the reader gets confused by Satan's characterization as having some rational traits. Paradise Regained emphasizes the worth of religion that we should prioritize over secular learning, but sometimes its reader may be uncertain about the claims.