MILTON: Paradise Lost [Books VII-XII]

 

Book VII
• Adam asks Raphael to tell him how and why the world was created. Raphael states that God created the world to replace the number of Rebel Angels that were cast from Heaven, lest Satan mistakenly believe that he has harmed Heaven by decreasing its population.

MILTON: Paradise Lost [Books I-VI]

Book I
• Milton aims to justify the ways of God to men with his poem. His subject is Man’s disobedience, which resulted in the loss of Paradise.

SHAKESPEARE: Macbeth

I wrote an essay titled The Macbeths’ Fall, in which I discussed the parallels between the Biblical Fall of Man and the story of Macbeth. The essay can be found on my other blog at the following link: The Macbeth’s Fall. I think that the analysis of such a theme is apt considering that I will be reading Milton’s Paradise Lost after this play.

CHAUCER: Troilus and Criseyde

Book I: Troilus’ Love
• Chaucer intends to relate the tale of Troilus, son of King Priam of Troy. Troilus passes from grief to joy to grief because of love.
• Chaucer invokes Tisiphone, one of the ancient Greek Furies, to be his muse because he believes that a sorrowful tale should be invoked by a sorrowful persona.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Summa Theologica [Part I-II, QQ 90-97]

Question 90 – Of the Essence of Law (Four Articles)

• Is law something pertaining to reason?

o   “Law is a rule and measure of acts, whereby man is induced to act or is restrained from acting.”