Poetic Hubris as Knowing Transgressionin the Invocation of Milton's Paradise Lost

Abstract

This study of the invocations in Paradise Lost attempts to examine the aspects of poetic pride in Milton's efforts to "assert eternal providence,/ And justify the ways of God to men." As Walter Schindler points out, the study of the invocations are important to any study of Milton's poetics because they are not only important markers of major shifts within the epic but defines the epic voices itself. Thus, the poet's stance adopted in the invocations, guides and shapes the larger narrative sections of the poem. Because the poem begins with an invocation that was overly bold in claiming divine inspiration and prophetic powers, it leaves itself open to charges of poetic pride and satanic hubris. A careful examination of all four invocations in the poem, however, reveals a underlying message of humility, patience and sufferance instead. Beginning with prideful ambition, there is a pattern of progressive downward movement in the tone of the invocation, moving from visions of grandeur and the sublime to a more subdued and humble voice at the end. This changes in the poetic voice, I would argue, can be linked to Milton's overall message of "patience and heroic martyrdom" (PL 9.32) in Paradise Lost.