MILTON'S GRAND STYLE IN PARADISE LOST
John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) falls under one of the best and well known works of Milton. A mighty subject such as the war in heaven and the spiritual story of man's creation, sin and salvation as told in the Bible can only be retold in an epic through a majestic style. Milton's style in Paradise Lost is so special that it is the only style in all English poetry which has been called the grand style. The unique quality and depth of his style is so special that it has been the study of noted critics such as Christopher Ricks in his book "Milton's Grand Style".
1)- LOFTINESS OF SUBJECT
The sublimity of style in the poem is basically due to the high seriousness of it's subject, theme and purpose with excellent economy Milton introduces the vast subject as a splendid
summary of the Bible and his multi volume of epi
"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
brought death into the world and all our woe. With lose of Eden till one greater man.
Restore us and regain the blissful seat."
The theme is also a highly challenging one
"Justify the ways of God to men."
Milton develops the theme to answer the many charges against God by both Satan and critics of religion. The charges are that God is responsible for the fall of man that God is not stronger and wiser than Satan, that God is tyrant who rules by the power of force than love. But by his powerful style Milton describes the background and explains the detail of the story of man's sin to prove God blameless and loving and Stan and man himself as the cause of the total human's tragedy. And it was his grand style by which he could reach his religious and artistic purpose.
2)- Diction
Milton picks the most uncommon powerful and pointed words for his elevated purpose of meaning and effect. For Satan his features of his character, he used such words as Infernal serpent, baleful, obdurate pride and steadfast hate. The description of hell, the movement of Satan and senses of the fallen angles are full of remarkable grand diction. Words full of dignity and scope are the first feature of grand style.
3)- Compression
The packed line introduced by Milton is of greatest density and consciousness than anything to be found in English Literature before it. The tight packing of powerful word make Milton's lines loaded with grand force such as :-
Thi deep track of hell,
our grand parents in that happy state
favoured of heaven so highly
him the almighty power url headlong flaming.
4)- Suggestion
Milton suggests more than he describes. But his choice of suggestive words have a much wider and deeper scope than any other poet. The reader must use his full attention and imagination to grasp his full meaning. He uses the wealth of References to Christian and Greek background, mainly the Bible. In short lines he offers vast suggestion as
"Now the thought both of lost happiness and lasting
pain in The dismal situation waste and wild he views."
5)- Syntax
Milton also tends to use Latinate constructions. English is a syntactical language using word order in sentence to produce sense, Latin in contrast , is an inflected language in which endings on words indicate the words function within a sentence, hence making word order less important. In Paradise Lost, Milton seems purposely to strive for a typical English syntactical patterns. Syntax is necessary for poetics, to maintain the correct meter, but at other times the odd syntax itself seems to be Milton's stylistic goal.
6)- Allusions And Vocabulary
The aspect of the grand style that most readers notice is the number of allusions and references; many of which seem obscure, along with arcane and archaic vocabulary. Ex-In just few lines of the poem poet refers to, Oreb, That Shepherd, Chosen seed, Siloa's Brook. The purpose of the references is to extend the reader's understanding through comparison. Most readers will know some of the references but few will know all. Paradise Lost is not written for an uneducated audience, but in many editions the explanatory notes are almost as long as the text.
7)- Extended Similes
Another aspect of Milton's style is the extended simile. The use of epic similes goes back to Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey but Milton uses more similes with more detail. A Miltonic simile can easily become the subject of an essay, perhaps a book. To those seemed force (The comparison of Satan's arrival in Eden to the smell of fish), to those that are perfect (Eden compared to the field where Proserpine gathered flowers and others like comparison of (Satan's spear to a pine tree), in all the cases, a critical exploration of the simile reveals depths of unexpected meaning about the objects or person being compared. Once again, Milton achieves a purpose with his highly involved language and similes. Milton again proves himself here as a man of immense learning and great poetic ability.
8)- Images
Besides extended similes, Milton also traces a number of images throughout the poem. One of the most apparent is the image of maze or labyrinth. Over and over in the poem, there are mentions of maze -
"Like the tangled curls of Eve's hair"
other images also run throughout the poem which opens up new possibilities for understanding Milton's ideas.
Conclusion
Milton intended to write in a "grand style". The style took the form of numerous references and allusions, complex vocabulary, complicated grammatical constructions and extended similes and images, but in terms of accomplishment it is difficult to see how such work could be better written in some other style.
DONE
DONE
DONE
😃
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