Teaching literature is an exercise in freedom. Now ideological demands from the right are putting it in danger.

Samuel Johnson quipped that even the admirers of John Milton’s epic never wished it ‘longer than it is.’ But ‘Paradise Lost’ ...

In the first two books of “Paradise Lost,” Satan politicizes his wounded pride, using all his powers of persuasiveness to build support in Hell for the righteousness of his rebellion against God.

Milton’s Paradise Lost is one of the four great epic works of the Western world, ... (Paradise Lost, book I, ll. 106–108). Yet there is the problem of making hell a livable place.

The 10 Best Books of 2024 This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law.

In the middle of my journey, I picked up Paradise Lost.I did so out of embarrassment, a dutiful feeling that I must at least try to read it, finish it even, before the dark evening of my life. It had ...

What in Me Is Dark: The Revolutionary Life of Paradise Lost Orlando Reade Jonathan Cape, 272pp, £22. Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops ...

The history of Paradise Lost’s readership through the centuries, argues the academic Orlando Reade in an admirably lucid new book, What in Me Is Dark, is one of revolution, subversion ...