Paradise Lost - An Interview with Dr. Kate McPherson

Wrapping up Paradise Lost is tough to do on your own. So I got a little help from a friend. Dr. Kate McPherson is a Professor of English at Utah Valley University, and Director of the Honors Program. And she just so happens to be an expert on 17th-Century English Literature. Today, I get to do something I've wanted to do for years - I get to ask her all my big Paradise Lost questions. I hope you enjoy this conclusion to the first season of Darkness Visible.

In the final episode of Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve confront the full weight of their disobedience. Despair gives way to reconciliation in this bittersweet denouement of Milton's epic. [Trigger warning: suicidal ideation. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255, visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org, or reach out to a trusted adult. Help is available.]

Would you be willing to die for the one you love? In this episode, students will begin to see the negative consequences of “Man’s first disobedience.”

Would you be happy, living with the knowledge that an enemy hell-bent on your destruction was watching your every move? In this episode, major themes and conflicts in the epic begin to converge in an increasingly heated argument between Adam and Eve. Students are asked to carefully evaluate the merits and weaknesses of contrasting arguments regarding the nature of free will, obedience, and temptation.

Eve gets all the credit for being the curious one. Maybe that's because most people skip Books V-VIII. In this episode, students will attend to the details of plot, character development, and structure within the epic.

Book IV of Paradise Lost continues with a stunning introduction to Adam and Eve. Quirks and questions abound in this strange but endearing moment of Milton's epic poem. Students are asked to consider how Milton represents concepts such as innocence, work, love, perfection, and equality, within the increasingly problematic context of the poem.

What would you be willing to give up for the greater good? In this episode, students are asked to consider how a single line of text can be read with deeply contrasting interpretations. The implications of HOW we read can be just as critical as WHAT we read.

Let's untangle the most profound religious and philosophical knots in the universe. Blindfolded. This episode reorients the reader to the perspective of the protagonists as they consider how to respond to Satan’s ongoing rebellion. Students are asked to consider the complexity of key themes in the poem: Free Will and the Problem of Evil.

The apparent heroism of Milton's Satan, the grand structure of his universe, and the cinematic drama of his poetry, are on full display in this episode detailing the second half of Book II of Paradise Lost. Students are asked to look closely at the cumulative effect of language in creating poetic imagery.

Have you ever felt trapped? In Book II of Paradise Lost, Satan plots his escape from Hell. But first, he must confront a horrifying secret from his past. In this episode, students are asked to consider the allegorical origins of evil in Milton’s conception of the universe.