The Comparative Study Between Paradise Lost And Journey To The West

Paradise Lost is John Milton's masterpiece and Journey to the West is one of the four great classical novels in Chinese literature, both of which get high remark in world literature. However, there are some connections between them. And this thesis aims to make a comparative study between Paradise Lost and Journey to the West with the help of the New Historicism. The author explores the similarities and differences between the two novels by applying the qualitative approach and analyzing the free will of western and eastern nations.This thesis includes seven parts. It starts with the introduction to the two writers, John Milton and Wu Cheng'en, and the significance of the study; in the second part, the author deals with the literature review covering studies at home & abroad and present the theoretical framework and research methodology. And then it goes to the major part of the thesis and concentrates on the similarities and differences between Paradise Lost and Journey to the West through diagram. In the last part, the thesis draws the conclusion that both works express the dissatisfaction of the characters to the social reality and present the different fates of the characters caused by the cultural and religious differences.To sum up, the thesis brings us the new way of approaching Paradise Lost and Journey to the West from the perspective of New Historicism. And the author hopes that it will help the readers to find the new thoughts on comparing literary works, especially between ones from different nationalities with the similar historical environments.