Milton’s View Of Gender Relationship In Paradise Lost

John Milton,one of the greatest English poets,rewrites the Genesis story of the human fall in his epic Paradise Lost.This biblical story has long been accused by feminists as infused with misogyny.Milton‘s rewriting of this biblical story conforms to its basic plot,which traps Milton into the same accusation of misogyny.The thesis aims to defend Milton against this accusation by analyzing Milton‘s representation of the gender relationship in Paradise Lost under both the poetic context and the social one.Milton’s view of the gender relationship consists of two aspects.On the one hand,the gender relationship is constructed generally in accordance with the hierarchical patriarchy,which causes the accusation of misogyny for Milton.On the other hand,this gender relationship also transcends over the patriarchal mode.The conspicuous features of this transcendence can be viewed as quite feminist,which is glowing with Milton‘s idea of marital love.This modern aspect of Milton‘s view of the gender relationship drives some critics into judging Milton as a proto-feminist,which contrasts itself with the accusation.The doubleness of the relationship between Adam and Eve renders their gender performances an overt sense of complexity.A number of critics have pinpointed that Eve is at once submissive to and privileged over Adam.This also points out the matching characteristics of Adam‘s gender images,which the studies conducted so far have largely missed.This doubleness of Milton‘s view of the gender relationship in Paradise Lost has long caused critical divergences concerning the question of Milton‘s misogyny.This thesis contends not only that the conformity with the patriarchal tradition cannot lead to a rash conclusion of Milton‘s misogyny but also that the transcendence even overshadows the conformity.The thesis also finds out that the uses of misogyny have been criticized as misuses.Therefore,the final chapter will first discuss the term misogyny—its meanings and widely accepted uses and then rebut the accusation of Milton‘s misogyny on the basis of Milton‘s view of the gender relationship examined in the two preceding chapters.