Divine Kingship in Paradise Lost

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the way that John Milton depicts kingship and the role it plays throughout 'Paradise Lost'. Many characters throughout the poem, particularly God and Satan, are often depicted as monarchs, while simultaneously, Satan also takes the role of an angelic revolutionary against a tyrannical God, leading a rebellion against a divine king seemingly for the sake of liberty. The writer's surprisingly sympathetic, even heroic characterisation of Satan becomes especially striking in light of Milton's own republican views and how he opposed the monarchy in the English Revolution. This thesis therefore hopes to determine the nature and function of kingship in 'Paradise Lost' by examining how these ideas resurfaced throughout Milton's life, his portrayal of the 'royal characters' in the poem and how we may combine these perspectives to discover what implications this has for our interpretation of 'Paradise Lost'.