A Preface to Paradise Lost: Being the Ballard Matthews Lectures Delivered at University College, North Wales, 1941 (Paperback)

by C.S. Lewis (Author) "The first qualification for judging any piece of workmanship from a corkscrew to a cathedral is to know what it is-what it was intended to..." (more)
Key Phrases: unchanging human heart, primary epic, court poetry, Paradise Lost, Professor Saurat, Milton's God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"An essential work in understanding both the literary approach of C.S. Lewis and the theological assumptions of Paradise Lost. Unparalleled in its conciseness."--I.S. Maclean, James Madison University

"Still the most lucid, useful, entertaining introduction to Milton's poem anyone has contrived to write. Traditional literary criticism at its best."--Lance E. Wilcox, Elmhurst College

Product Description
An interpretation of Milton's purpose in writing the epic.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 31, 1961)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195003454
• ISBN-13: 978-0195003451
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,153 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #39 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Criticism
  #52 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Epic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Debating Milton, June 15, 2003

By	Alatheia416 - See all my reviews

John Milton's Paradise Lost is perhaps the most debated work in western literature. On one side you have those who say that Milton was secretly on the Devil's side. (Due to the realistic portrayal of Satan and the seemingly far off and tyrannical portrayal of God) On the other side you have those who say that Milton's sympathies were with God and the angels. (Due to the loving portrayal of the angels and mankind) C.S. Lewis was of the later camp. In 1942, he stood up against those who said otherwise.

I have a hard time labeling this as a 'preface'; Lewis was obviously writing to the learned elite at Cambridge, not to new readers of Milton. But Lewis does an excellent job of explaining Milton's worldview and how it works in Paradise Lost. His chapters on Primary and Secondary Epics, Miton and St. Augustine, and Hierarchy are EXTREMELY helpful. (Particularly the helpful to American readers is the Hierarchy chapter; we just don't understand what it means to live under and totally submit to a king or emperor.)

I highly recommend this to readers of Lewis or fans of Medieval and Renaissance literature.

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to Milton's epic poem, February 7, 1998

By	David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book was a pleasure to read both before and after reading PARADISE LOST. In fact, one can make a nice trilogy out of PREFACE TO PARADISE LOST, PARADISE LOST, and Lewis's PERELANDRA. Lewis's PREFACE should interest both the general reader and the specialist. Lewis gives a roadmap for working through Milton's epic poem, discussing what an epic is and why Milton chose it, for example, or why Milton used a certain style for writing; he also comments on Milton's theology, medieval hierarchy, and a number of other pertinent subjects with which the reader will probably not be overly familiar. The writing is clear, the discussion lucid and enlightening, and the subjects are interesting. This is certainly worth purchasing.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Sense Does Not Grow Old, January 21, 2000

By	Thomas A. Copeland "pyrocles" (Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Lewis's lectures, though half a century old, speak today with the same clarity, simplicity, and depth of learning as when they were first delivered. His presentation of background information sets the great English epic in its contemporary context--literary, historical, and theological--with a minimum of fuss and footnotes. Some of his negative judgments, such as calling the last two books "an undigested lump of futurity," deserve reconsideration, but on the whole his judgments encourage critical reading rather than bardolatry.