The narrator as chorus in 'Paradise Lost.'

From: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 | Date: January 1, 1993| Author: | Copyright information

The chorus in John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' satisifies most definitions of the function of a narrator as used in Greek drama. Analysis of the epic shows the significant influence of Greek tragedy on Milton by the changing roles of the chorus that attempts to contextualize the epic for its audience. The on-going attempts to identify the narrator as Milton may be erroneos faced with the inconsistencies of the text, which is allowed if the narrator is the chorus.

Milton's narrator invokes his muse to aid the "advent'rous Song" that is Paradise Lost, "while it pursues / Things unattempted yet ...

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