Reading Paradise Lost
Wiley Blackwell Reading Poetry Series

?This lucid and entirely jargon-free guide to Paradise Lost will help any reader of the poem to find their feet, and to understand what makes it the best poem in the English language. Hopkins has one, and only one, resemblance to Milton?s Satan, which is that he can make intricate seem straight.?
Colin Burrow, Oxford University

?This is the best introduction to Paradise Lost there is, suitable for the intelligent sixth-former or undergraduate, or the enquiring general reader outside the academy ? or indeed anyone who cares about poetry. It is also a joy to read, indeed a real page-turner ? and of how many academic books can one say that??
Charles Martindale, Bristol University

Concise enough to be assimilated in a single session, this short volume maps the wonders of Milton?s poetic landscape. The book offers an exploration of some of the main narrative and poetic elements of the epic poem ? qualities which have compelled and fascinated readers for more than three centuries. The author, a celebrated authority on English poetry of the period, engages with (and attempts to counter) some of the critical arguments that impede readers? enjoyment of the poem. This volume emphasizes the aesthetic experience of reading ParadiseLost and brings out the pleasure to be derived from one of the great literary achievements of humanity.

Preface vii

1 Paradise Lost: Poem or "Problem"? 1

2 God, Satan, and Adam 23

3 Eden 43

4 The Fall 63

Further Reading 85

Index to lines and passages from Paradise Lost 91

Index to main text and notes 93

David Hopkins is Emeritus Professor of English Literature and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK. A specialist on English poetry and literary criticism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has written two books on John Dryden – John Dryden (1986) and Writers and their Work: John Dryden (2004). His latest work, Conversing with Antiquity: English Poets and the Classics, from Shakespeare to Pope (2010), reflects his interest in the enduring influence on English poetry of the literature and culture of classical antiquity. Professor Hopkins has also edited numerous volumes, including (with Paul Hammond) an annotated edition of Dryden’s complete poems.