Resurrection of Paradise Lost

Yale sage Harold Bloom, one day, bestowed on me a wonderful gift. I hold the utmost respect for Harold's literary insight, yet do not necessarily agree with the content therein.

I spent the better half of the last decade attempting John Milton's Paradise Lost. It became a Sisyphean task merely reading Book I.

After much frustration, I would toss it aside and vow "never again". Inevitably, some reference or mention of a Miltonian passage would, once again, ignite my curiosity. I would shoulder that boulder only to have it roll down that steep grade.

Harold's gift to me was in the form of a suggestion. He intimated that I should not read Milton with the eyes of one brought up in the Judeo-Christian tradition or in any other religious tradition for that matter. One should read Milton with those same eyes that read Shakespeare, Cervantes and other writers of that period. One should consume Paradise Lost with the eyes of a Secularist.

So how does one escape a maturation process steeped in Catholicism in order to engage such a literary challenge? More specifically, how does one parse Satan from the concept of evil? How does one set aside the demagogic religiosity from one's childhood?

'Read the character Satan not like an entity or symbolism from some sacred text. Read the character as you would a Shakespearean villain. Read Satan as you would Iago.'

Thus understood, I read Milton's Paradise Lost fully, without pause. I consumed his verse like a fine wine. Words sprung from the page, leapt into my mouth and danced around my brain in dizzying merriment. It was electric.

Therefore, a literary work that had confounded and escaped me for over a decade now dazzled me and was brought to life along with its variegated allusion to antiquated literature. Like a Homeric epic, I consumed Milton's poetry with a ravenous appetite.

I did learn a much greater lesson concerning literary criticism. Literary criticism should not reflect opinion as much as it should a descriptive of one's personal experience with a given piece. Literary criticism should not be read as to prejudice one's understanding but merely for what it is, a reflection.