A Study Of Knowledge In John Milton's Paradise Lost

John Milton's Paradise Lost is deeply imprinted with the mark of the Renaissance and is filled with humanistic thought.In the poem,Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge by the temptation of Satan who is a fallen angel disguised as a serpent.The consequence of eating the fruit is that they are exiled from heaven by God.Thus,the fruit on the tree of knowledge plays an extremely important role in the conflicts of the story.Humanists at that time believed that the highest goal of education was to let people achieve their own self-improvement through their own hard work,and the fruit of knowledge in Milton's Paradise Lost is closely related to the social background.Taking this as a sally port,the thesis will focus on the issue: whether or not the acquisition of knowledge leads to the Fall of Man? Based on New Criticism,especially the method of close reading,this thesis will analyze relevant contents of knowledge in Paradise Lost,and hereby inquire into the connection between knowledge and fate.The thesis contains three chapters.In chapter one,the core and types of knowledge contained in Paradise Lost are discussed,and the sequence of narrating the types of knowledge is: knowledge of Hell—knowledge of Human—knowledge of Heaven.Chapter two explores three ways for acquiring knowledge,which are probed from three aspects—self-discovery,oral instructions and promotion of self-recognition.Chapter three mainly analyzes the close connection between knowledge and fate of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost,and digs out the fact hidden in the text that acquiring knowledge does not lead to the fall of human beings.Chapter five summarizes the full text,and presents the significance of knowledge in knowing oneself and in man's life.