Hunger in Paradise: Appetite as Character Development in the Works of Milton

Here's my google doc  for my final paper!

Carmen Thorley--Final Research Paper

Posted on Google Drive!
Thank goodness this is done, right? Right? Ha.

Comparison of Milton's Portrayals of Eve and Dalila and so forth...

xoxo--carmen

I have reached a decision, classmates!

        As the title says, I have decided on a topic. Finally. Two out of the three options I posted before were a little too vague for me to go off of. So I am going to write about Milton's portrayals of Eve and Delilah, how (and if) they differ from other portrayals, and then compare the two (using Samson Agoniste and Paradise Lost.)
        I hope with my research will come a more specific focus (like whether his characters jive with the Bible's characters, or how his characters fit into feminism) yes yes yes.
        I am pretty happy with this idea. I not only tolerated Samson Agoniste, but I really liked it. And though I love essays, for some reason, Milton just wasn't doing it for me, so Paradise Lost was the next best thing. Sorry if I'm sounding annoying and negative here.
        I think these women characters are fascinating.
        I've already found a few good sources:
       
---Threshold Poetics: Milton and Intersubjectivity. It says in the description that this includes both Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes (which I've come to find is kind of rare.) I'll have to read more into it to see if it's what I'm looking for.

---Feminist Milton: This could be a really good source. It could narrow my topic if I'm interested enough in writing my paper with a feminist focus.

---Comparing the characters of Eve and Delilah in the Bible: while the previous two sources are actual books, this is an online source. My favorite.

---Milton and the Unfettered Mind: There is a section of the book titled "Milton's Delilah and Even: Filling in the Spaces in the Biblical text." This could give me a base for my Bible side of the comparison, where I can rely on myself more for figuring out Milton's side.

---Marriage and Divorce in the works of John Milton

--Samson Agonistes and Paradise Lost: Similarities Between the Sexes

        Those are some of the sources that I skimmed over that helped me settle on this topic. I will probably have to reread Samson Agonistes, and go over my highlighted sections of Paradise Lost (I'm not reading that whole thing again).
        I'm pretty pleased with this idea. I think there is a lot that can be said about these characters. I will continue working tomorrow morning and post my annotated bibliography.

In the Closet

As an introvert, the realm of theater is an vaguely terrifying and innately social experience, so the concept of a closet drama was a little counter-intuitive. I'm so used to professors saying "Read it out loud, because that's how it was meant to be performed!" that it was a little weird to just sit down and read through Samson Agonistes, but I've found I quite like this more relaxed medium, and I think it's interesting how it affects our culture and media.

The beginnings of this form can be seen as far back as Plato's Apology, a text intended to be philosophical in nature but is generally regarded as more of a tragedy proper. Seneca the Younger is attributed with some of the first works intended to be read to small groups instead of large audiences, and this tradition continued through the middle ages, though it wasn't a predominant form of literature. The Interregnum and its closing of public theaters provided the perfect opportunity for writers like Milton to work on this form, as we've seen with Samson Agonistes. The 18th century brought the rise of closet dramas to Western Europe, many of which followed the examples of their classical predecessors. Over the next hundred years or so the dramas continued in popularity, and influenced some of the works of writers such as Yeats and Melville.

While it isn't nearly as popular today as it was a few centuries ago, I think the idea of the closet drama is something our society holds quite dear. The value of such works lie in their content, not the execution of that content, and in a culture where entertainment is often a solitary endeavor this intentional isolation fits in quite nicely. I think this can best be seen in television shows, which to me are a very personal entertainment medium. While I go to the movie theater or concerts with my friends, Breaking Bad or Iron Chef America are things I watch on my own, usually in my pajamas with ice cream, and I think they're intended to be viewed that way. Watching Walt lie to Jesse on the big screen with a huge group of people munching popcorn would diminish the emotional impact and suspense a great deal, much like how performing Samson Agonistes to a large audience might ruin some of the personal connections formed between the reader and the characters. The closet drama allows the reader to interpret the author's words in whatever way he or she pleases, and this freedom of interpretation is something I haven't found anywhere else.

Provoking thoughts

This is the Socrates dialogue (Plato's Crito) I made mention of in Monday's class. If you have 20 minutes or so to kill I would suggest reading it if you haven't already. Not only is a great example of what it might have been like to talk to Socrates, it was brought to my mind as I read the prison scene with Samson and his father. Samson and Socrates are both incarcerated and when presented with deliverance choose to remain where they are and face whatever end is coming, explaining their reasoning to their hopeful deliverers.

The point in class I was bringing up was the distinct difference between the presence of God in Plato's piece versus Milton's, or Socrates deference to God vs. Samson's deference to God. Socrates is very much about devotion to the state and abiding by the rules that have been set forth (though I'm pretty sure that Socrates wasn't exactly guilty of what he was charged...I could be wrong though). Samson does the same not in consideration of the state and government but to the rules and mandates of God (unfortunately for him in retrospect of his disobedience).

But when I was looking for a copy of Crito to link to I happened to scroll down to the very last line. And it threw me and my original assumption a bit. It is as follows...

             Crito: I have nothing to say, Socrates. 
             Socrates: Then let me follow the intimations of the will of God. 

I'm still not sure what to make of it. I still stand by my point but I wanted to give Socrates credit for not completely disregarding deity.
I know it is off topic, but if you guys have any thoughts or explanations I'd be interested. So far what I have found is that Socrates' religious orientation was labeled as "western philosophy." What does that mean? What god is he referring to? It is definitely singular. Just questions and questions:]

Sweetest Downfall

If you haven't heard Regina Spektor's "Samson," now would be a good time to change that. It's one of my favorite songs of all time.

Now that you're in the right mood, one of the things that I am most infatuated with in pretty much any piece of literature is trying to understand why people do the things that they do. I'm realizing little by little that that his own problems (say, for example, in trying to justify Milton's Satan figure, not that anyone would do that...), but it's something that's helped me to empathize with a variety of people in all sorts of different circumstances. Anyway, as I read Samson Agonistes, I thought a lot about Samson as a tragic figure, and that got me thinking about his fatal flaw--why, in the end, he did what did.

Samson the Tragedy

We also talked about how difficult it would be to Samson Agonistes into an actual stage production and then, even if it was, that Samson seems bit too whiny to sympathize with.  I would like to submit that perhaps the performance of the play would not only be natural, but would enhance the audience's view of Samson. For three reasons

1. Samson, the Bible hero, fits the bill for Greek tragic hero. One critic said "Samson Agonistes follows a common tragic pattern : the hero, looked on as something monstrous or unacceptable, is killed or exiled, or as in Samson's case, is forced into a position where death is inevitable. This pattern is also Christian. It is related to Milton's ideal of Christian heroism, of plain heroic magnitude of mind, of the single just man, of patience as the truest fortitude, or of the suffering of the saints."

 

2. The purpose of Greek tragedy parallels the purpose of Bible stories. Each was to warn against pride and remind the audience that uncontrolled power corrupts. The power given to Samson by God mirrors not only other Greek plays, but also other characters of the Bible like David, Adam, and Judas Iscariot. By seeing their downfall, we are supposed to associate pride, disobedience, and careless rule with anguish.

3.The Chorus was extraordinarily effective in fulfilling this desired Greek purpose and would consequently be effective in relaying the Christian purpose. The way the Chorus functioned was overwhelmingly effective in producing this feeling of anguish which made for very poignant, emotional connections to form very quickly for the audience between the evil actions and painful consequences. 

Samson Agonistes Aloud

In class and on this blog we have discussed the illumination that comes in understanding Paradise Lost when we listen to it. The beauty of the poem comes into full view when we hear the rhythm of the words. Poetry was meant to be listened to as much as it was meant to be read. So I decided to listen to Samson Agonistes (you can listen to it here). While reading Samson Agonistes was interesting to me, listening to it amplified the pain Samson was going through and his father's agony at his death. 

I decided to look up what people had to say about listening to books and poetry versus reading it, and I came across this article from Forbes. Here's what caught my eye in the article: