Paradise Lost Lesson Plan

At the beginning of Paradise Lost, Milton states that his purpose is to "justifie the wayes of God to men." What do you think this means? And why does Milton want to do this?

Based on this statement, some students may feel inclined to see Paradise Lost as a kind of "fan fiction" – that is to say, as a story that expands upon the Bible to explain the finer points of the Fall of Man. Other students may interpret Milton's declaration through the lens of theodicy: in Paradise Lost, they might say, Milton's intention is to make sense of the fallenness of the world for a new generation of readers.

Milton's Paradise Lost begins in the middle of the action (en media res) with...