God's 'blood-curdling jokes' in Milton's Paradise Lost

摘要

This thesis begins by exploring the Fall of Adam and Eve, from Milton’s portrayal in Paradise Lost, in order to judge when comedy become a possibility for the human race. The three major theories of comedy are then traced: superiority theory, incongruity theory, and relief theory. It also discusses some complexities within comedy theory such as black comedy, as well as giving examples of some modern theories of comedy and which show comedy to be fundamental to human life and how it may serve a role in sustaining life. Slavoj Žižek’s belief that comedy is the best means of representing atrocities is described and used to support the appropriateness of comedy in discussing the Fall. Milton’s own awarenessudof comic conventions is then explored to see to what degree he intentionally included comedy in Paradise Lost. Biographical references, as well as stylistic choices by Milton, are used as evidence for the existence of his use of comedy. It will show that Milton’s characterisation,udas well as narrative choices, suggest that he has adopted an intentional comic mode, which extends beyond his accepted use of satire, the mock-heroic, or the grotesque, which are ideas already widely represented inudcriticism. The challenges of identifying the true hero of Paradise Lost are explored with reference to Northrop Frye’s theory of heroes and genre. Finally through the comparison of Milton with Beckett generally, and specifically through comparing Paradise Lost to All That Fall, many similarities between the philosophy of Beckett and Milton are exposed. A detailed exploration is made between the similar topics in both texts such as isolation, companionship, sex, temptation, death, hopelessness, fallenness, original sin, reproduction, knowledge, and cowardice. In conclusion, Miltonic comedy is shown to be dark and further areas of research are suggested.