Paradise Lost: Difference between revisions

Well-known as a source for ''mountains'' of literary criticism and a host of [[Alternative Character Interpretation|Alternative Character Interpretations]], many think the poem [[Designated Villain|makes a better case]] for [[Satan]] than [[God]]. [[Misaimed Fandom|This was almost certainly not Milton's intent]], but while most critics acknowledge this, [[Death of the Author|some assert that his intent is not the point]]. Ever since forty years ago and Stanley Fish's ''Surprised By Sin'', other academic critics assert that this ''is'' the point; the author intended to subvert [[Misaimed Fandom]] by making the reader sympathetic to Satan in the opening part, but then surprising the reader by finding out that Satan was actually lying and is evil all along in the later parts. By this argument, the reader re-enacts the Fall by reading the work. The multitude of different ways to read it are undoubtedly part of the appeal for scholars and literature buffs alike -- it helps that this opens limitless doors for [[Flame War|reasonable argument]]. Or y'know, [[First Installment Wins|they could just read the sequel]].

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* [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]: Sin and Death.