Paradise Lost | Essays and Criticism

  • Sin and Knowledge in Humankind

    In the following essay, Innes-Parker studies Milton's struggle to reconcile the sinful nature of humankind with the inherent value of knowledge, assessing Adam and Eve's sin which results from eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

  • Language and the Illusion of Innocence in Paradise Lost

    In the following essay, Johnson examines ways that Milton uses such elements of language as symbolism, irony, ambiguity, and even puns in Paradise Lost to evoke images of innocence and the loss of innocence.

  • Milton's Imperial Epic

    In the following essay, the critic examines Milton's Paradise Lost for indications that it includes references to and thoughts on the colonization of the American continent by Europeans at the time it was written.