Milton's Paradise Lost

Have you always wanted to read John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1674) and never gotten around to it? Victoria Kahn and Clio's have created a four-week seminar, running 11am-1pm on Saturdays Sept. 12, 19, 26 and October 3, just for you.

With the exception of Shakespeare, Milton is the greatest writer of the English Renaissance; unlike Shakespeare, Milton was a sexual and political radical who directly addressed, in dazzlingly beautiful and difficult poetry, all the important issues of his day: the existence of evil; the nature of God, free will, love and human sexuality; the problem of tyranny and the justification of political rebellion; the essence of consciousness; the relationship between pagan antiquity and Christianity, and between poetry and faith. You will be expected to read three books of Paradise Lost every week. Each class will include a brief lecture as well as group discussion, which will focus on close reading of individual passages of poetry. It’s recommended that you read the entire poem once through before the beginning of the class if you have time. It is not necessary to attend all four classes, though the seminar will be better for you and everyone else if you do.

Victoria Kahn is Professor emerita of English and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley.