Better to rule in hell?...

Close-read and consider lines 242-270: 

“Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,”
Said then the lost Archangel, “this the seat
That we must change for Heaven?—this mournful gloom
For that celestial light? Be it so, since He	245
Who now is sovran can dispose and bid
What shall be right: fardest from Him is best,
Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme
Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields,
Where joy forever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,	250
Infernal World! and thou, profoundest Hell,
Receive thy new possessor—one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.	255
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:	260
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
The associates and co-partners of our loss,	265
Lie thus astonished on the oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell?”

Evaluate Lucifer’s character as depicted by Milton (particularly in this passage). In what ways has Milton’s Lucifer left his mark on literature? Share some specific examples. 

Remember to include at least one quote. Minimum word count: 300 words. Post by class time Friday 1/30. Post at least one response by class time Monday 2/2. 

(Please post on your blog AND bring in a typed copy on Friday 1/30--as always, use MLA format. 

Consider the three definitions of tragedy which we discussed at the beginning of our study of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Classical Tragedy:  According to Aristotle's Poetics, tragedy involves a protagonist of high estate ("better than we") who falls from prosperity to misery through a series of reversals and discoveries as a result of a "tragic flaw," generally an error caused by human frailty.  Aside from this initial moral weakness or error, the protagonist is basically a good person:  for Aristotle, the downfall of an evil protagonist is not tragic (Macbeth would not qualify).  In Aristotelian tragedy, the action (or fable) generally involves revolution (unanticipated reversals of what is expected to occur) and discovery (in which the protagonists and audience learn something that had been hidden).  The third part of the fable, disasters, includes all destructive actions, deaths, etc.  Tragedy evokes pity and fear in the audience, leading finally to catharsis (the purgation of these passions). 

Medieval tragedy:  A narrative (not a play) concerning how a person falls from high to low estate as the Goddess Fortune spins her wheel.  In the middle ages, there was no "tragic" theater per se; medieval theater in England was primarily liturgical drama, which developed in the later middle ages (15th century) as a way of teaching scripture to the illiterate (mystery plays) or of reminding them to be prepared for death and God's Judgment (morality plays).  Medieval "tragedy" was found not in the theater but in collections of stories illustrating the falls of great men (e.g. Boccacio's Falls of Illustrious Men, Chaucer's Monk's Tale from the Canterbury Tales, and Lydgate's Falls of Princes).  These narratives owe their conception of Fortune in part to the Latin tragedies of Seneca in which Fortune and her wheel play a prominent role. 

Renaissance tragedy derives less from medieval tragedy (which randomly occurs as Fortune spins her wheel) than from the Aristotelian notion of the tragic flaw a moral weakness or human error that causes the protagonist's downfall.  Unlike classical tragedy, however, it tends to include subplots and comic relief.  From Seneca, early Renaissance tragedy borrowed the "violent and bloody plots, resounding rhetorical speeches, the frequent use of ghosts . . . and sometimes the five-act structure" (Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed., vol. I, p. 410).  In his greatest tragedies (e.g. Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth), Shakespeare transcends the conventions of Renaissance tragedy, imbuing his plays with a timeless universality


Next, consider the "problem" of the four Shakespeare plays many critics now classify as Romances. 

Here is a useful link: 

The Tempest as Romance

Finally, craft your own argument as to the proper classification of The Tempest. Be sure to include specific text evidence from not only the play but also the sources provided. 

300 word minimum; include text evidence and cite. Post your initial response by Thursday at 11 am. Post at least one substantial response to a class member by class time on Friday.