1 00:00:21,330 --> 00:00:25,690 Assalamualaikum and welcome back. Today we 2 00:00:25,690 --> 00:00:29,650 continue speaking about the commonwealth and the 3 00:00:29,650 --> 00:00:36,010 restoration. In terms of politics, this is an age, 4 00:00:36,650 --> 00:00:43,020 an era that is so restless. that is so messed up 5 00:00:43,020 --> 00:00:46,480 in so many ways, because for the first time in the 6 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:50,020 history of modern England, we see the king 7 00:00:50,020 --> 00:00:57,620 executed. And for the first time, England is ruled 8 00:00:57,620 --> 00:01:02,420 not by a king, 9 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:12,780 but by a ruler who does the job probably maybe he 10 00:01:12,780 --> 00:01:16,920 was better than the king in many ways But again, 11 00:01:17,020 --> 00:01:20,720 politically speaking, historically speaking, the 12 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,140 removal of the king, the execution, he wasn't only 13 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:25,360 removed, he was executed. Remember, we've seen 14 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:26,880 this in literature, we've seen this in 15 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,100 Shakespeare. And this is how interesting how 16 00:01:30,100 --> 00:01:33,540 literature prepares people, fiction creates 17 00:01:33,540 --> 00:01:36,980 reality in a way or another, prepares. But no 18 00:01:36,980 --> 00:01:39,300 matter how many times you see the king dead, 19 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:45,020 killed, On stage, when it happened, people were 20 00:01:45,020 --> 00:01:47,380 shocked in so many ways because the idea of the 21 00:01:47,380 --> 00:01:50,300 king and the monarchy was deeply rooted in the 22 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:52,960 mentalities, in the mindsets, in the minds of the 23 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,660 English people. Cromwell rules for about 10 years. 24 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,680 He was successful, powerful. We've seen people 25 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:08,070 praise him. Marvel, and also John Milton, and many 26 00:02:08,070 --> 00:02:11,590 other people wrote good poetry about him, praised 27 00:02:11,590 --> 00:02:14,830 him in a way that, again, people praised the kings 28 00:02:14,830 --> 00:02:17,190 and the queens before. 29 00:02:21,110 --> 00:02:26,010 When he was old, when he passed away, when he 30 00:02:26,010 --> 00:02:29,170 died, he was followed, again, ironically, by his 31 00:02:29,170 --> 00:02:35,000 own son. That's funny. Remember I said in a way 32 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,220 it's ironic because you remove the king because of 33 00:02:39,220 --> 00:02:42,040 corruption and sins and vices and deterioration 34 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,900 and breakdown of many things. But when a ruler 35 00:02:45,900 --> 00:02:49,740 comes, this should help pave the way, prepare the 36 00:02:49,740 --> 00:02:52,960 people to a democratic process of choosing their 37 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:58,420 own leaders and their own rulers. However, His son 38 00:02:58,420 --> 00:03:02,780 came after him and he was so weak. I think no 39 00:03:02,780 --> 00:03:05,880 matter how good he was, he wouldn't be good enough 40 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,500 because he can't be compared to his father. And 41 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:14,440 that's called the Commonwealth. Oliver Cromwell 42 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,160 and then his son about 11, 12 years. However, he 43 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,120 was followed with the death of Cromwell and the 44 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,760 rule of his son ended abruptly because the people 45 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:33,280 decided to bring the king back again. So Oliver's 46 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,620 son, I don't know his name, excuse me, just go. We 47 00:03:36,620 --> 00:03:38,860 want the king. We can't live without the king 48 00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:42,220 because the king gives us security and safety, 49 00:03:42,780 --> 00:03:45,280 provides us with protection, and because the king 50 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,600 is part of our culture and tradition and 51 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,340 literature and society and life and mentality and 52 00:03:50,340 --> 00:03:53,940 many things. We said in this era, literature has 53 00:03:53,940 --> 00:03:59,370 become highly political. Remember there was 54 00:03:59,370 --> 00:04:01,230 nationalism, the strong sense of the English 55 00:04:01,230 --> 00:04:03,310 identity and nationalism in poetry before where 56 00:04:03,310 --> 00:04:05,670 you love England, you love the Thames, you love 57 00:04:05,670 --> 00:04:07,790 the Queen, you praise the Queen. We've seen 58 00:04:07,790 --> 00:04:11,370 Spencer praising, you know, the fairy queen. But 59 00:04:11,370 --> 00:04:14,190 now there's political division. Poetry is 60 00:04:14,190 --> 00:04:16,250 political in the sense that there are two 61 00:04:16,250 --> 00:04:19,270 political parties and you side with one against 62 00:04:19,270 --> 00:04:22,710 the other. Now imagine this. Many people, 63 00:04:22,870 --> 00:04:25,250 including poets and intellectuals, sided with the 64 00:04:25,250 --> 00:04:25,670 Commonwealth, 65 00:04:29,030 --> 00:04:33,150 with Oliver Cromwell. When he died and the king 66 00:04:33,150 --> 00:04:37,910 was restored, they were in trouble. They were in 67 00:04:37,910 --> 00:04:40,010 real trouble. Some of them were arrested, some of 68 00:04:40,010 --> 00:04:45,380 them were punished in one way or another. We spoke 69 00:04:45,380 --> 00:04:49,520 about Andrew Marvell before. Andrew Marvell became 70 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,980 a politician himself. He started as a poet, but 71 00:04:51,980 --> 00:04:54,160 later on he ran for president. He was a member of 72 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,120 the parliament. And although he was a member of 73 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,260 the parliament, he was almost arrested. John 74 00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:03,180 Milton, our friend here today, was arrested 75 00:05:03,180 --> 00:05:08,980 because of his support to the Commonwealth. Some 76 00:05:08,980 --> 00:05:11,220 say he could have been executed, or he could have 77 00:05:11,220 --> 00:05:14,780 spent a lot of time in prison. But it was thanks 78 00:05:14,780 --> 00:05:18,140 to his friend, Andrew Marvell, that helped release 79 00:05:18,140 --> 00:05:22,260 him. And that's not all bad, because in prison he 80 00:05:22,260 --> 00:05:25,760 wrote some really good literature. And Milton, by 81 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,540 the way, when he grew up, he started to lose his 82 00:05:28,540 --> 00:05:33,980 sight and eventually he went blind. Still, he 83 00:05:33,980 --> 00:05:37,240 wrote some of the best English poetry ever. Today, 84 00:05:37,660 --> 00:05:42,300 we'll spend some time, a journey with John Milton. 85 00:05:43,300 --> 00:05:48,300 A major 17th century poet. A poet who was in many 86 00:05:48,300 --> 00:05:52,040 ways trying to have influence on the whole English 87 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,120 literature. He wanted to be as famous, as 88 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:57,840 influential as Chaucer himself. And interesting 89 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:01,060 how people always go back to Chaucer just to, if 90 00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:05,040 they want to do great things. And he wanted 91 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,800 English literature to compete, to be independent 92 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,700 of Europe in many ways. So he wrote several texts. 93 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,940 We'll mention some of them. We'll study probably 94 00:06:16,940 --> 00:06:20,180 in a way, in bits and pieces, two of them. The 95 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:27,260 first one is Paradise Lost. Paradise. You know 96 00:06:27,260 --> 00:06:32,560 paradise? Heaven. Heaven, yeah. What does this 97 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,900 translate into Arabic? How does it translate into 98 00:06:34,900 --> 00:06:37,800 Arabic? Yeah, Arabic. 99 00:06:41,820 --> 00:06:44,800 It has a poetic translation in Arabic. 100 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:56,500 Because you're 101 00:06:56,500 --> 00:06:59,380 not studying translation yet. When you do, you 102 00:06:59,380 --> 00:07:03,580 will see how sometimes you change a little bit so 103 00:07:03,580 --> 00:07:06,800 you give it the poetic sense. And later on, he 104 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,100 wrote another text called Paradise. 105 00:07:11,830 --> 00:07:17,050 Regained. You know regained? It means restored. 106 00:07:17,310 --> 00:07:22,450 The restoration. And then the third text is called 107 00:07:22,450 --> 00:07:23,890 Samson Agonist. 108 00:07:30,230 --> 00:07:34,290 Have you ever heard of Samson? Samson. Samson. 109 00:07:34,410 --> 00:07:37,970 Samson. Samson. The text takes place in Gaza by 110 00:07:37,970 --> 00:07:42,620 the way. So the guy is Gazan like us. Yeah, 111 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,380 Samsung. Samsung. Does it ring a bell? Samsung. 112 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,920 There's a character in Spongebob. Samsung. 113 00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:55,960 Samsung. Simpsons. No, not the Simpsons. Samsung. 114 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,160 Shamshoon. Yeah, Shamshoon, that's it. Shamshoon 115 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,820 Al Jabbar, we know this. Yeah, yes. But we'll talk 116 00:08:03,820 --> 00:08:07,200 about it probably this class, if not the next 117 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,200 class. John Milton, again, wanted to do something 118 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,360 great, to write an epic poem. Oh, no, epic poem, a 119 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,000 very long poem about important issues, important 120 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,060 themes, important characters, important myths. At 121 00:08:21,060 --> 00:08:24,460 the beginning, he thought of writing something 122 00:08:24,460 --> 00:08:29,440 about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round 123 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,220 Table. You know why he chose this particular text? 124 00:08:32,260 --> 00:08:36,380 Because everything about it is pure English. I 125 00:08:36,380 --> 00:08:38,960 don't know why, but he dropped that idea. But 126 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,920 again, notice how he's intentionally, consciously 127 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,940 planning something, because he wants to write. 128 00:08:45,100 --> 00:08:49,440 This is not a sonnet. It's a poem. Paradise Lost 129 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,560 is about 10,000 lines. 130 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,700 10,000 lines, Paradise Lost. That's an epic poem. 131 00:09:00,300 --> 00:09:03,680 What is it about? Do you have any idea? Paradise. 132 00:09:05,020 --> 00:09:06,980 Who could be the main characters, the characters 133 00:09:06,980 --> 00:09:12,280 in it? Religious? Who? The king. Bigger than them. 134 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:19,600 He's more ambitious. Adam and Eve. Who else? The 135 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:26,620 devil. Satan. Angels. Demons. Who else? More 136 00:09:26,620 --> 00:09:33,190 significant. God. This is how ambitious he is. But 137 00:09:33,190 --> 00:09:36,090 it's funny because these are not English people 138 00:09:36,090 --> 00:09:39,310 and the events don't take place in England. But 139 00:09:39,310 --> 00:09:42,030 still this is an English text, a major epic 140 00:09:42,030 --> 00:09:46,710 English text poem, which shows his attempt to do 141 00:09:46,710 --> 00:09:51,710 this. So the major characters in Paradise Lost are 142 00:09:51,710 --> 00:09:58,570 God, Satan, Adam, Eve, you should know, you should 143 00:09:58,570 --> 00:10:01,570 be familiar with these, you know, names. We have 144 00:10:01,570 --> 00:10:05,210 Adam, you know Adam already. And Eve, this is Eve. 145 00:10:05,510 --> 00:10:12,910 You know, Christmas Eve. Eve, God, Satan. And we 146 00:10:12,910 --> 00:10:18,370 have God. And this takes place in heaven, 147 00:10:18,650 --> 00:10:27,810 paradise. There is a garden of Eden. Garden of 148 00:10:27,810 --> 00:10:32,190 Eden, Jannat Adan, right? And then we have the 149 00:10:32,190 --> 00:10:33,010 original sin. 150 00:10:35,790 --> 00:10:39,870 What's the original sin? This is a Christian term, 151 00:10:40,030 --> 00:10:43,390 by the way. The original sin is when Adam and Eve 152 00:10:43,390 --> 00:10:46,590 disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge. 153 00:10:47,950 --> 00:10:49,870 Tree of knowledge. 154 00:10:55,070 --> 00:10:58,310 In Islam, we're not sure whether this is an apple 155 00:10:58,310 --> 00:11:02,770 tree or what. In Christianity, it's mentioned that 156 00:11:02,770 --> 00:11:06,290 this is an apple tree. In Islam, it's not stated 157 00:11:06,290 --> 00:11:09,730 whether it was Eve who started, you know, munching 158 00:11:09,730 --> 00:11:13,810 at the apple, the fruit. In Christianity, it's not 159 00:11:13,810 --> 00:11:17,250 about that. It's also who you blame more. In 160 00:11:17,250 --> 00:11:20,130 Christianity, it's clear that Eve starts munching 161 00:11:20,130 --> 00:11:24,180 at the apple. Right? That's why there is this 162 00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:28,260 thing that many religious people do this like they 163 00:11:28,260 --> 00:11:31,580 accuse women in general of committing the first 164 00:11:31,580 --> 00:11:34,780 sin and causing the fall of Adam, the fall of 165 00:11:34,780 --> 00:11:40,380 humanity. The fall of humanity from heaven to 166 00:11:40,380 --> 00:11:45,280 earth, from mercy to sin. Very interesting stuff. 167 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,700 The fall, you know, fall down because of the 168 00:11:49,700 --> 00:11:54,620 original sin because Now, we know the biblical 169 00:11:54,620 --> 00:11:57,640 story. It's similar to the story we have in Islam, 170 00:11:57,740 --> 00:12:00,440 with tiny little differences. In Islam, again, 171 00:12:00,620 --> 00:12:03,600 both of them, Adam and Eve, are to blame. And 172 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:08,820 sometimes Adam is blamed more. But here, in 173 00:12:08,820 --> 00:12:10,900 Christianity, we have something different. In the 174 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:13,460 text, he takes the story, but he changes it a 175 00:12:13,460 --> 00:12:17,820 little bit. When you read the story, I'm not sure 176 00:12:17,820 --> 00:12:20,340 if you can read 10,000 lines now that you have 177 00:12:20,340 --> 00:12:23,600 midterm exams, but who knows? Maybe you can watch 178 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:28,360 some extracts or a dramatization on YouTube. When 179 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:33,540 you read the text, you will find that, you will 180 00:12:33,540 --> 00:12:37,860 feel that the author, John Milton, in a way 181 00:12:37,860 --> 00:12:42,260 humanizes Satan. Presents sometimes, presents 182 00:12:42,260 --> 00:12:46,820 Satan as the hero. sometimes equally blaming God, 183 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,520 Adam, Eve, and Satan equally for what happened. 184 00:12:50,460 --> 00:12:53,480 And that's why the text is controversial. You know 185 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,840 the word controversial? Yes. Controversial, 186 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,920 debatable. Some people don't like it. Some people 187 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,440 like it. Some people disagree with many things. So 188 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,540 why does it create controversy here? This because? 189 00:13:05,780 --> 00:13:08,480 Because he changes the thoughts and he blames as 190 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,580 well. He changes the Christian idea by one 191 00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:15,580 presenting who as the hero. But the antagonist. 192 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,080 The antagonist, Satan. In Islam and in 193 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,260 Christianity and other religions, Satan is the 194 00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:26,220 embodiment of evil, the pure evil. Yes. But here, 195 00:13:26,300 --> 00:13:28,980 he's not. He's real. You feel sorry for him. So if 196 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:31,140 you're reading this and you feel sorry for Satan, 197 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,280 it doesn't mean you are evil. It means the author. 198 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:37,920 It means the author is smart, is genius. We do 199 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,040 this. We watch Hollywood movies. Did you watch The 200 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,200 Sniper? Yeah. Sniper is a horrible movie about an 201 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,780 American soldier, war criminal actually, who kills 202 00:13:47,780 --> 00:13:51,500 over 100, around 150 Iraqis. Some of them women, 203 00:13:51,620 --> 00:13:53,680 some of them kids, some of them innocent civilian 204 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:56,700 people. You watch the movie and you feel sorry for 205 00:13:56,700 --> 00:14:02,060 him. Yeah, you feel sorry for him in a way. You 206 00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:03,400 don't have to feel sorry for him, by the way, 207 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,420 because he's a murderer. But that is how 208 00:14:06,420 --> 00:14:10,460 influential literature is and movie production is. 209 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,160 You know? Change your attitudes and sympathize 210 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:18,620 with people usually you don't sympathize in real 211 00:14:18,620 --> 00:14:22,200 life. So this created a huge controversy. Still 212 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,880 does. Many Christians, for example, don't like 213 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,700 this. Because they see that the author is equally 214 00:14:28,700 --> 00:14:32,600 blaming not only Zeta, not only Adam and Eve, but 215 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,420 also God. Like, this shouldn't have happened. Some 216 00:14:36,420 --> 00:14:38,740 people, by the way, some people read the whole 217 00:14:38,740 --> 00:14:43,360 thing as an allegory. An allegory of the 218 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,480 commonwealth and the restoration. So the 219 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,700 commonwealth is, I don't know, heaven. And because 220 00:14:49,700 --> 00:14:54,020 people don't do a good job after Cromwell, they 221 00:14:54,020 --> 00:14:59,120 fell down. They fall. And then the king is 222 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,740 restored, where the king, the restoration here 223 00:15:01,740 --> 00:15:06,100 represents earth and sin. Because after that, 224 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,620 after the commonwealth, the guy was not doing a 225 00:15:09,620 --> 00:15:14,030 good job. Later on, in a way, Adam and Eve go down 226 00:15:14,030 --> 00:15:19,510 to Earth to the unknown, to human knowledge. Later 227 00:15:19,510 --> 00:15:22,630 on, he wrote another poem, just so you know. 228 00:15:23,470 --> 00:15:27,190 Paradise Regained. Paradise Regained. In which, 229 00:15:27,530 --> 00:15:30,090 how would you, in Christianity, how is Paradise 230 00:15:30,090 --> 00:15:33,430 Regained? What do you expect? Maybe Adam and Eve 231 00:15:33,430 --> 00:15:37,130 are God's... No, later on, after Adam and Eve. 232 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:45,160 How? Who leads humanity to regain paradise? No, 233 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:51,120 Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ 234 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:55,930 suffers for humanity. and leads humanity from sin, 235 00:15:56,690 --> 00:16:00,930 corruption, vices, to virtue, to salvation, back 236 00:16:00,930 --> 00:16:03,510 to heaven. And that's why it's regained. At the 237 00:16:03,510 --> 00:16:07,690 end, I'll tell you the story of Samson Agones. So 238 00:16:07,690 --> 00:16:12,970 let's go through Milton's Paradise Lost again, 239 00:16:13,390 --> 00:16:17,150 step by step. Unless someone has a question to 240 00:16:17,150 --> 00:16:21,090 ask. Please. What is the difference between 241 00:16:21,090 --> 00:16:25,130 allegory and symbolism? Generally, an allegory is 242 00:16:25,130 --> 00:16:27,770 a longer story, a bigger story. Like the whole 243 00:16:27,770 --> 00:16:30,510 story could be an allegory. But symbolism could be 244 00:16:30,510 --> 00:16:33,450 part of a story. So this is the basic thing you 245 00:16:33,450 --> 00:16:39,670 need to know. So if you're writing a story, and in 246 00:16:39,670 --> 00:16:43,910 your story there is a dove. The dove symbolizes 247 00:16:43,910 --> 00:16:47,810 peace, love, purity, right? Snow. Snow symbolizes 248 00:16:47,810 --> 00:16:51,330 purity, whiteness, et cetera. But the whole story 249 00:16:51,330 --> 00:16:54,770 could be an allegory. But also, you can describe 250 00:16:54,770 --> 00:16:57,730 it as symbolic, like where, for example, you have 251 00:16:57,730 --> 00:17:01,030 animal characters. But they don't have to be 252 00:17:01,030 --> 00:17:03,650 animal characters. You have characters who refer 253 00:17:03,650 --> 00:17:06,430 to something else. So this could be an allegory, 254 00:17:06,470 --> 00:17:10,550 because everything here could mean something else, 255 00:17:10,590 --> 00:17:15,280 like the Commonwealth and the Restoration. But in 256 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,900 the story, the apple, the apple or the tree, the 257 00:17:18,900 --> 00:17:22,480 apple here is a symbol of what? Of the forbidden, 258 00:17:23,340 --> 00:17:30,100 of sin maybe, because the moment Eve eats, bites 259 00:17:30,100 --> 00:17:34,460 the apple, everything turns upside, upside down. 260 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,140 This is Milton again. In many ways, he links the 261 00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:43,340 Renaissance, the age of Shakespeare, later on with 262 00:17:43,340 --> 00:17:46,500 the Commonwealth and the Restoration. He lived in 263 00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:50,700 all these turbulent times. He was very ambitious. 264 00:17:51,500 --> 00:17:55,400 Why? Because he wanted to be one of the greatest 265 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,100 poets in English literature, mainly like Chaucer, 266 00:17:59,260 --> 00:18:02,040 always Chaucer. Someone asked me, why not 267 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,940 Shakespeare? Shakespeare is the greatest literary 268 00:18:04,940 --> 00:18:09,440 figure probably ever. But Shakespeare is a 269 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,160 dramatist, and you'll ask, but drama was written 270 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,920 in verse. So it's a little bit different. That's 271 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,420 yeah, verse, but still as a drama here, okay? 272 00:18:23,220 --> 00:18:25,760 Of course, he was engaged in politics, writing 273 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,020 essays about religion and many other things. He 274 00:18:29,020 --> 00:18:31,620 became the Latin secretary to Cromwell. This is 275 00:18:31,620 --> 00:18:35,740 how close he was to Cromwell. And it's because of 276 00:18:35,740 --> 00:18:38,820 this he later on was arrested. 277 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,880 When he was blind, started to be blind, eventually 278 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,420 he wrote Paradise Lost. I should add the inverted 279 00:18:47,420 --> 00:18:52,260 commas. Don't forget this. He wrote Paradise Lost. 280 00:18:53,410 --> 00:18:57,370 Yeah, I think it took him some time, but 281 00:18:57,370 --> 00:19:01,430 eventually he went blind. And I know many people 282 00:19:01,430 --> 00:19:05,090 who study, you know, in Arabic literature, we have 283 00:19:05,090 --> 00:19:06,490 blind poets also. 284 00:19:09,170 --> 00:19:12,690 Tahseen wasn't a poet. He was a northerner. Bashar 285 00:19:12,690 --> 00:19:16,050 bin Bord, you know? I think. Abu Al-Alai Al-Ma 286 00:19:16,050 --> 00:19:18,730 'ari, was he blind? No. Abu Al-Alai Al-Ma'ari? Are 287 00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:22,740 you sure? Anyway, so some, maybe you study 288 00:19:22,740 --> 00:19:25,220 comparative literature in the future, you compare 289 00:19:25,220 --> 00:19:27,860 how blindness does something to literature and 290 00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:30,440 how, because there are so many references to the 291 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,360 fact that he's blind. There is, I think, a poem he 292 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:38,000 wrote on his blindness. Okay, so Paradise Lost is 293 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,810 a major epic poem in English. by John Milton about 294 00:19:43,810 --> 00:19:48,210 God, Adam, Eve, Satan, and the fall of mankind. 295 00:19:50,510 --> 00:19:57,270 Now, the question is, why did Milton write this? 296 00:19:57,430 --> 00:20:03,560 This is actually poetry from Paradise Lost. At the 297 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,000 beginning, in the opening, he addresses the 298 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:08,960 audience. He tells them why he is engaging in 299 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:14,290 writing a 10,000-line poem. What do you think? 300 00:20:14,570 --> 00:20:16,910 He's saying to assert eternal providence. 301 00:20:17,050 --> 00:20:18,790 Providence means, do you know what providence is? 302 00:20:19,510 --> 00:20:22,570 Providence means basically that there is a God, 303 00:20:23,050 --> 00:20:25,710 and that God is taking care of us all, and 304 00:20:25,710 --> 00:20:27,950 eventually everything is going to be fine because 305 00:20:27,950 --> 00:20:31,870 there is a merciful just God. So to assert, to 306 00:20:31,870 --> 00:20:35,270 make sure, to convince people that, to assert 307 00:20:35,270 --> 00:20:39,650 eternal providence and to justify the ways of God 308 00:20:39,650 --> 00:20:43,190 to men. Whose job is it to do this generally in 309 00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:46,910 life? Whose job is it to assert eternal providence 310 00:20:46,910 --> 00:20:49,930 and to justify the ways, the means of God to men? 311 00:20:52,770 --> 00:20:57,140 Prophets, yeah. It's usually a prophet. who does 312 00:20:57,140 --> 00:20:59,220 this to assert eternal prophethood, to tell people 313 00:20:59,220 --> 00:21:02,320 there is a God and God is merciful. Yes, God 314 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,940 sometimes tries us. In a way, we're punished 315 00:21:06,940 --> 00:21:09,140 sometimes. We suffer sometimes. But this is for 316 00:21:09,140 --> 00:21:15,560 our own good, to justify the ways of God to men. 317 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,620 And this is how ambitious he is. So in a way, he's 318 00:21:18,620 --> 00:21:21,980 claiming, assuming the role of the prophet. 319 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,310 Prophet. You know what a prophet is? Yes. Like a 320 00:21:26,310 --> 00:21:30,430 messenger. So he knew he's doing something great. 321 00:21:30,610 --> 00:21:32,950 He knew that. And indeed, he's one of the greatest 322 00:21:32,950 --> 00:21:37,990 English poets ever. Okay? Why did... Can you 323 00:21:37,990 --> 00:21:39,890 answer this question? Don't look here. Why did the 324 00:21:39,890 --> 00:21:42,410 text... I could ask you this in the exam. Why did 325 00:21:42,410 --> 00:21:45,510 Paradise Lost cause controversy? 326 00:21:50,350 --> 00:21:55,370 Please. Very good. He contradicts the Christian 327 00:21:55,370 --> 00:21:58,390 beliefs. How? Can you give examples? Yes? 328 00:22:02,530 --> 00:22:05,670 Sometimes as the hero. How? Because he challenges 329 00:22:05,670 --> 00:22:08,970 God. God tells Satan, kneel. And he says, I don't 330 00:22:08,970 --> 00:22:12,910 want to kneel. Leave Adam and Eve alone. I don't 331 00:22:12,910 --> 00:22:15,910 want to leave them alone. And he tempts Eve to eat 332 00:22:15,910 --> 00:22:19,090 from the tree of knowledge. What else? There is 333 00:22:19,090 --> 00:22:20,550 another reason here. 334 00:22:24,810 --> 00:22:29,430 Some level of blame. They're all equally to blame, 335 00:22:29,710 --> 00:22:36,120 equally responsible for this. Okay? But there is a 336 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:38,920 discussion here about freedom of choice and good 337 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,680 free will, free will and freedom of choice. Are we 338 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,040 destined to do something or can we choose our own 339 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,920 destiny? Here, yes, we can choose our own destiny. 340 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,500 At the end of the text, this happens. Someone 341 00:22:50,500 --> 00:22:53,380 read, please. Yeah, please. 342 00:23:03,210 --> 00:23:06,930 They hand in hand with wandering steps and walk 343 00:23:06,930 --> 00:23:13,830 through Eden took their solitary way. Who's they 344 00:23:13,830 --> 00:23:17,970 here and them? Who are they? Adam and Eve. This is 345 00:23:17,970 --> 00:23:21,610 at the end, eventually, when everything goes as it 346 00:23:21,610 --> 00:23:26,570 goes here in the poem. Adam and Eve walk hand in 347 00:23:26,570 --> 00:23:30,330 hand, not to God's mercy, not back to heaven, to 348 00:23:30,330 --> 00:23:35,030 providence. They go back to human knowledge, to 349 00:23:35,030 --> 00:23:39,130 the unknown. In many ways, this symbolizes the 350 00:23:39,130 --> 00:23:41,170 Renaissance, how the Renaissance was trying to 351 00:23:41,170 --> 00:23:43,150 break the barriers, to break the rules, to push 352 00:23:43,150 --> 00:23:46,470 the barriers, to go perfection, to seek 353 00:23:46,470 --> 00:23:48,950 perfection. We've seen this in Dr. Faustus. He 354 00:23:48,950 --> 00:23:53,110 wanted unlimited access to knowledge. But how did 355 00:23:53,110 --> 00:23:55,370 the whole Renaissance end? It ended in 356 00:23:55,370 --> 00:23:59,290 disillusionment. It ended in decline. It ended in 357 00:23:59,290 --> 00:24:03,430 criticism. It ended in censorship. It ended with 358 00:24:03,430 --> 00:24:05,690 the execution of the king and the closure of the 359 00:24:05,690 --> 00:24:09,750 theater. Remember by the Puritans? So in a way, 360 00:24:10,190 --> 00:24:14,890 they're going to the unknown. Disobeying God takes 361 00:24:14,890 --> 00:24:18,650 you to the unknown. But in literature, this is 362 00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:21,550 sometimes a good theme because you choose your own 363 00:24:21,550 --> 00:24:27,310 future. So the world was all before them were to 364 00:24:27,310 --> 00:24:29,530 choose. They could have, you know, chosen 365 00:24:29,530 --> 00:24:32,950 differently. Their place of rest, you know, rest, 366 00:24:33,090 --> 00:24:37,810 peace, heaven, and Providence, their guide, they, 367 00:24:38,210 --> 00:24:44,410 however, they hand in hand still stick together 368 00:24:44,410 --> 00:24:51,930 with wandering steps, slow wandering, slow steps, 369 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,900 through Eden. And this is really heartbreaking. So 370 00:24:58,900 --> 00:25:02,240 this is like I imagine this way this is like if 371 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:07,020 this is heaven how they go back down to earth so 372 00:25:07,020 --> 00:25:08,960 they have to cross all the way through heaven 373 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,100 where they see all beauty and the rest and the 374 00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:15,670 providence and they still They determine, and they 375 00:25:15,670 --> 00:25:19,130 go. That was because of the original scene we saw. 376 00:25:19,370 --> 00:25:23,510 Through Eden, took their solitary way, the 377 00:25:23,510 --> 00:25:26,350 unknown. And this is a theme here, of the theme of 378 00:25:26,350 --> 00:25:29,950 the unknown. Where is humanity going? Where are we 379 00:25:29,950 --> 00:25:33,950 going? We're going to the unknown. This is very 380 00:25:33,950 --> 00:25:37,250 ambitious. And at the same time, very sad, very 381 00:25:37,250 --> 00:25:39,150 heartbreaking, very risky. 382 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:47,740 I can't tell whether Milton is promoting this or 383 00:25:47,740 --> 00:25:53,120 condemning this. What do you think from this? Do 384 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,420 you think Milton wants us to be this adventurous 385 00:25:56,420 --> 00:26:00,000 and this risky? Or is he telling us, see, if you 386 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,400 disobey God, if you don't follow the rules, you're 387 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,360 going to end up with the unknown? Yeah, so? 388 00:26:12,070 --> 00:26:14,430 He's blaming God, and I think he's saying that you 389 00:26:14,430 --> 00:26:20,470 have to, I don't know. What do you think? You 390 00:26:20,470 --> 00:26:22,830 don't have to know. What do you think, generally? 391 00:26:22,990 --> 00:26:27,250 I think he's, the first place, he blamed God, but 392 00:26:27,250 --> 00:26:34,610 I don't think that he wants us to obey God. He put 393 00:26:34,610 --> 00:26:37,430 God as the antagonist. Okay, but not necessarily, 394 00:26:37,590 --> 00:26:39,370 it doesn't mean, listen, in literature generally, 395 00:26:39,530 --> 00:26:43,980 I said this before, Literature usually, or 396 00:26:43,980 --> 00:26:46,860 sometimes, doesn't seek to give us answers, but to 397 00:26:46,860 --> 00:26:49,880 raise questions. That's one. In literature, we 398 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,280 don't usually have pure evil or pure good 399 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,080 characters, because literature is usually focused 400 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,180 on the gray area. If the text, if the movie is 401 00:26:59,180 --> 00:27:03,020 about a family that is too good, it's boring. Or 402 00:27:03,020 --> 00:27:05,380 too evil, sometimes it's frightening. There's too 403 00:27:05,380 --> 00:27:09,100 much evil there. It's about good people who do bad 404 00:27:09,100 --> 00:27:13,470 things. No? Bad people who do good things. Oh, 405 00:27:13,650 --> 00:27:17,050 interesting. You ask a question, would I do the 406 00:27:17,050 --> 00:27:20,170 same if I were in their position? Would I do the 407 00:27:20,170 --> 00:27:24,510 same? And it's interesting because we see how 408 00:27:24,510 --> 00:27:27,310 people react, how good people sometimes react when 409 00:27:27,310 --> 00:27:28,850 they want to do evil. It's very interesting. 410 00:27:28,950 --> 00:27:31,010 There's a movie I watched. It's called Death 411 00:27:31,010 --> 00:27:33,050 Sentence. You know what it means, death sentence? 412 00:27:34,150 --> 00:27:36,510 sentence in this context what does sentence mean 413 00:27:36,510 --> 00:27:40,170 when you say somebody was sentenced to 10 years in 414 00:27:40,170 --> 00:27:44,790 prison sentence it's a time someone a criminal 415 00:27:44,790 --> 00:27:50,330 spends in prison for life sentence death sentence 416 00:27:52,950 --> 00:27:54,910 A movie called Death Sentence, really beautiful 417 00:27:54,910 --> 00:27:57,190 movie. It starts with, again, a beautiful family, 418 00:27:57,390 --> 00:27:59,650 the perfect family, the husband, the wife, and the 419 00:27:59,650 --> 00:28:03,430 two kids. One of them is very promising, very 420 00:28:03,430 --> 00:28:06,130 ambitious. He has a very good job. They're rich. 421 00:28:06,210 --> 00:28:10,470 They're comfortable. And after like 10 or 15 422 00:28:10,470 --> 00:28:14,070 minutes, the son they loved the most was killed by 423 00:28:14,070 --> 00:28:19,270 a gang member. How would a loving father, a 424 00:28:19,270 --> 00:28:21,590 peaceful father, a father who has never touched a 425 00:28:21,590 --> 00:28:26,990 gun would react in this? I'm not going to spoil 426 00:28:26,990 --> 00:28:31,610 it. It's one of my top movies actually. Try to 427 00:28:31,610 --> 00:28:34,320 watch it. Really interesting stuff. But again, 428 00:28:34,540 --> 00:28:38,780 until this moment, I asked myself, God forbid, how 429 00:28:38,780 --> 00:28:41,780 would a person who's not into revenge and fighting 430 00:28:41,780 --> 00:28:45,220 and everything, movies and literature, give us 431 00:28:45,220 --> 00:28:48,680 these scenarios? And that's why when you see the 432 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,280 conclusion, the ending, and how it ends, probably 433 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,160 you say, OK, I'll do the same. But it gives you a 434 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,700 whole story, a whole world in front of you, where 435 00:28:56,700 --> 00:29:00,600 to choose. What should I do? Should I leave the 436 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:04,650 law to take its course? When you lose someone you 437 00:29:04,650 --> 00:29:08,190 love the most, you wouldn't wait for Allah to take 438 00:29:08,190 --> 00:29:11,250 your revenge. But is that good? If we do this, the 439 00:29:11,250 --> 00:29:13,670 whole world is going to turn into a jungle. But 440 00:29:13,670 --> 00:29:16,650 you wouldn't be OK if you didn't do this. We 441 00:29:16,650 --> 00:29:19,470 should. Because yeah, there is this thing in our 442 00:29:19,470 --> 00:29:22,490 hearts about revenge. But literature teaches us to 443 00:29:22,490 --> 00:29:26,770 forgive. You might be the best person on Earth. 444 00:29:27,090 --> 00:29:31,750 But still, it's your right to feel angry and to 445 00:29:31,750 --> 00:29:34,940 want to take revenge. But if you want to kill 446 00:29:34,940 --> 00:29:38,280 somebody because Toronto, like Shylock, if you 447 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,460 want to do, you know, we discussed this in another 448 00:29:41,460 --> 00:29:43,580 class, I think. Would you do like Shylock? Would 449 00:29:43,580 --> 00:29:45,420 you insist on taking a pound of flesh to take 450 00:29:45,420 --> 00:29:48,680 revenge? It's his right, because he was attacked. 451 00:29:48,740 --> 00:29:53,260 He was, you know, many times. But in this case, 452 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,640 the revenge wouldn't be killing. He might take 453 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,310 revenge by something else. By slapping him? No, 454 00:30:00,470 --> 00:30:04,530 maybe by doing the same to him. Like what? He 455 00:30:04,530 --> 00:30:06,610 killed someone, you killed someone? No, I don't 456 00:30:06,610 --> 00:30:11,270 know. Nothing like that. At least like, but that's 457 00:30:11,270 --> 00:30:14,870 where when we have like, if we have a good legal 458 00:30:14,870 --> 00:30:19,190 system where criminals can be punished as they 459 00:30:19,190 --> 00:30:21,610 should be, at least you don't have to go there. 460 00:30:22,190 --> 00:30:25,590 Anyway, think of this, please. I think he's 461 00:30:25,590 --> 00:30:30,360 promoting hearing to unknown. Because he said hand 462 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,940 in hand with wandering steps. He didn't mention 463 00:30:33,940 --> 00:30:37,640 that there was any disagreement. And that's the 464 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,240 best thing about Adam and Eve, by the way. In 465 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,720 Islam and Christianity, I'm not sure we have this 466 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,280 in the text. I'll have to go back to it. Adam and 467 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,620 Eve were the perfect couple, in a way. They're not 468 00:30:48,620 --> 00:30:51,460 the odd couples that are always fighting, like our 469 00:30:51,460 --> 00:30:54,160 parents sometimes. They're always fighting over 470 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,800 trivial things. You don't see this, although this 471 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,060 is the most serious thing. Sometimes you do 472 00:31:00,060 --> 00:31:03,200 something, and then the wife gets at you. The wife 473 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,260 does something, and the husband is angry and 474 00:31:05,260 --> 00:31:09,590 everything. What a perfect couple they are. Hand 475 00:31:09,590 --> 00:31:13,810 in hand, slowly wandering, despite the fact that 476 00:31:13,810 --> 00:31:17,410 they lost the most important thing a human person, 477 00:31:17,690 --> 00:31:22,130 humanity has ever lost. Paradise. Providence. 478 00:31:22,950 --> 00:31:26,500 Being close to God. What a perfect, what a good 479 00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:28,860 couple. But they were the only ones on the earth, 480 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,040 maybe because of that they wouldn't leave each 481 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,080 other for no reason. Yeah, so if I leave, but 482 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,900 still you fight a little bit because fighting 483 00:31:36,900 --> 00:31:38,860 doesn't mean end in a war. Maybe they fought. 484 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,760 Maybe they did, but it's not in the Quran or the 485 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,310 Bible or in the text. And this is how literature 486 00:31:45,310 --> 00:31:47,770 literature doesn't give us everything. It leaves 487 00:31:47,770 --> 00:31:50,430 gaps for us to think. But yeah, interesting how 488 00:31:50,430 --> 00:31:53,150 you think that at least when they take the 489 00:31:53,150 --> 00:31:56,190 decision, they take it together, hand in hand. 490 00:31:56,590 --> 00:31:59,210 Adam is not leading him, and she's not pushing 491 00:31:59,210 --> 00:32:03,070 him. They're hand in hand. They are equal to the 492 00:32:03,070 --> 00:32:09,290 other. OK. Now in Paradise Lost, we have a lot of 493 00:32:09,290 --> 00:32:14,980 very memorable lines. So neither Adam nor Eve is 494 00:32:14,980 --> 00:32:21,260 to blame because they are all equally to blame. 495 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,540 There are several memorable lines and 496 00:32:27,540 --> 00:32:31,160 descriptions, descriptive passages, descriptive 497 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:34,820 stanzas and poetry in Paradise Lost. One of them 498 00:32:34,820 --> 00:32:37,700 is a description of hell, hellfire. You know 499 00:32:37,700 --> 00:32:41,380 dungeon? A dungeon is a dark place like a prison. 500 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,620 It's where sometimes you describe the prison as a 501 00:32:44,620 --> 00:32:47,620 dungeon or a particular room. I don't like to sit 502 00:32:47,620 --> 00:32:50,080 in this room. It's like a dungeon. Dungeon is a 503 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:55,140 dark place where you sit in. Could describe a 504 00:32:55,140 --> 00:32:57,860 prison, but here it is used to describe hell 505 00:32:57,860 --> 00:33:01,160 itself. And notice how horrible, how spooky this 506 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,420 is. This is very close to the Bible and the 507 00:33:03,420 --> 00:33:07,740 description of the religious text here. So hell 508 00:33:07,740 --> 00:33:14,600 is? Horrible on all sides around as one great 509 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,440 furnace. Do you know furnace? We took it before, 510 00:33:19,540 --> 00:33:24,420 furnace. What is oven? What's an oven? You don't 511 00:33:24,420 --> 00:33:29,180 know an oven? But furnace, where did we come 512 00:33:29,180 --> 00:33:32,920 across furnace before? All the world's stage. 513 00:33:34,020 --> 00:33:36,460 There was the furnace, the lever, the fighter, ah, 514 00:33:36,500 --> 00:33:39,320 it's like a furnace. So you know what a furnace 515 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:44,480 is. There's fire all over the place. Flame, yit. 516 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,080 And again, see this paradox. There's a paradox 517 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:51,900 here. If there is fire, yes, there is heat. It's 518 00:33:51,900 --> 00:33:54,720 negative in this sense. But fire means warmth. And 519 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,660 sometimes it means what do we have from fire other 520 00:33:58,660 --> 00:34:01,600 than warmth? Light. Thank you very much. But this 521 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:06,210 is not an ordinary fire. This is hell fire. Yet 522 00:34:06,210 --> 00:34:11,750 from these flames, from the fire, no light, but 523 00:34:11,750 --> 00:34:15,550 rather darkness visible. It's funny that you say 524 00:34:15,550 --> 00:34:19,010 darkness visible because darkness is darkness. 525 00:34:20,530 --> 00:34:25,290 This is fire that gives darkness not light. 526 00:34:27,770 --> 00:34:32,130 Isn't that the most horrifying thing ever? So when 527 00:34:32,130 --> 00:34:34,870 someone tells you it's dark, OK, I can light some 528 00:34:34,870 --> 00:34:37,830 fire. But fire there doesn't give light. It gives 529 00:34:37,830 --> 00:34:44,870 more darkness. We have this. Usually religious 530 00:34:44,870 --> 00:34:53,290 texts do this all the time. We all 531 00:34:53,290 --> 00:34:59,150 hear about this, the food of the sinners, the 532 00:34:59,150 --> 00:35:03,810 people in hell. In the Quran, there is a simile. 533 00:35:04,330 --> 00:35:06,730 And usually, a simile, a metaphor, brings things 534 00:35:06,730 --> 00:35:09,790 closer to our imagination. So someone tells you, 535 00:35:09,890 --> 00:35:13,690 have you ever tasted or tried cheesecake? Yes. No. 536 00:35:14,570 --> 00:35:17,130 What does it taste like? It's like ice cream, but 537 00:35:17,130 --> 00:35:19,410 it's far, far, far bitter than ice cream. 538 00:35:20,230 --> 00:35:24,350 Interesting. Delicious. So the tree of Zaqqum was 539 00:35:24,350 --> 00:35:28,030 brought out as if it were a simile. We want to 540 00:35:28,030 --> 00:35:36,790 know. So this A fruit in hell. The fruits there on 541 00:35:36,790 --> 00:35:41,290 the trees look like the heads of devils. We don't 542 00:35:41,290 --> 00:35:44,270 know what they look like originally, right? So 543 00:35:44,270 --> 00:35:47,030 something spooky with something even more 544 00:35:47,030 --> 00:35:49,550 terrifying. And this is religious text. And he's 545 00:35:49,550 --> 00:35:54,870 doing this. So this hellfire is all darkness. It's 546 00:35:54,870 --> 00:36:00,300 a furnace, flame. But do we have light? No. 547 00:36:00,500 --> 00:36:03,240 There's no light here. Please. I think this stanza 548 00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:07,840 supports the idea that the stanza before this one, 549 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:13,200 it supports the idea that he's advising us to obey 550 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,300 God and listen to him to make you follow his plan. 551 00:36:16,300 --> 00:36:18,500 Because eventually, if you don't, you're going to 552 00:36:18,500 --> 00:36:21,960 be there. So he's terrifying us in a way. You have 553 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:26,640 to obey God. Another extract I liked is when he 554 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:27,500 describes 555 00:36:30,580 --> 00:36:32,820 Eve. Maybe someone wants to do a presentation on 556 00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:35,520 this, how he describes Eve and how he describes 557 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,680 Adam. You know, you have to do a presentation for 558 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,920 the course assessment. This is Milton talking 559 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:47,580 about Eve. In a way, he's saying Eve is the most 560 00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:51,260 beautiful woman. At that time, you said this, 561 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,440 there were no women, no men. So of course, she is 562 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:58,490 the most beautiful woman on earth. But he compares 563 00:36:58,490 --> 00:37:01,510 her to even more beautiful creatures. 564 00:37:03,530 --> 00:37:09,510 Soft, she withdrew. Unlike a wood nymph, light. 565 00:37:09,590 --> 00:37:11,990 You know a wood nymph? What's a nymph? A wood? 566 00:37:12,510 --> 00:37:16,210 Nymph? It's like a goddess. Goddesses. Yeah, like 567 00:37:16,210 --> 00:37:20,950 goddesses. Like purely beautiful creatures living 568 00:37:20,950 --> 00:37:24,210 in heaven. Those imaginary creatures, the 569 00:37:24,210 --> 00:37:26,790 creatures we imagine all the time. Perfect 570 00:37:26,790 --> 00:37:31,430 creatures. So she withdrew, she moves, she 571 00:37:31,430 --> 00:37:37,610 behaves, she acts like a nymph. Light. We took her 572 00:37:37,610 --> 00:37:41,590 to the groves, but Delia's self-engaged surpassed 573 00:37:41,590 --> 00:37:45,550 and goddess-like deposed. She looks like? Goddess. 574 00:37:46,270 --> 00:37:50,650 Goddess. She's a goddess. She's a nymph, she's 575 00:37:50,650 --> 00:37:56,240 beautiful, she's perfect. So maybe you want to see 576 00:37:56,240 --> 00:38:00,420 how the text talks about. But here, notice the 577 00:38:00,420 --> 00:38:03,360 description is mainly physical description. Are 578 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:07,500 there any references to her mind? Or is this the 579 00:38:07,500 --> 00:38:11,280 case? A woman has to be beautiful, and that's it. 580 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,660 More important than her mind and her intellect. 581 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:17,120 Look into the text. If someone is interested in 582 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,920 this, to do a presentation, you can look into 583 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:24,130 this. And maybe you can see how Adam is. So maybe 584 00:38:24,130 --> 00:38:28,570 Adam is not described physically. Maybe he's more 585 00:38:28,570 --> 00:38:29,350 into the mind. 586 00:38:34,390 --> 00:38:36,850 The apple, we'll see, yeah. We'll have to go back 587 00:38:36,850 --> 00:38:40,810 to this and see what exactly he said about her, 588 00:38:40,910 --> 00:38:46,570 how she behaved, what she exactly thought. I'll 589 00:38:46,570 --> 00:38:51,270 conclude this with more memorable lines. We have 590 00:38:51,270 --> 00:38:56,780 one. Two and three. Three, again, beautiful, very 591 00:38:56,780 --> 00:38:58,520 memorable. Some of these, by the way, have become 592 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,980 English proverbs. We use them all the time, and 593 00:39:01,980 --> 00:39:04,460 sometimes we don't know that they are from Milton. 594 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:06,940 Sometimes we use so many things from Shakespeare 595 00:39:06,940 --> 00:39:08,300 and Milton and John Donne and everything. 596 00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:11,320 Especially this one. I like using this all the 597 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:16,120 time. So farewell hope and with hope farewell 598 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:21,140 fear. So, farewell. You know farewell? Goodbye. 599 00:39:22,260 --> 00:39:27,380 Goodbye to hope. But if somebody loses hope, you 600 00:39:27,380 --> 00:39:31,640 have nothing else to lose. So, you don't fear 601 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:37,280 anything. And usually they say, you need to fear 602 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,760 someone who has nothing to fear. Beware of a 603 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:42,640 person who has nothing to fear. Because if you 604 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:46,200 have no family, nobody to love, no home to live, 605 00:39:46,300 --> 00:39:48,940 no country, nothing, everything is threatened, 606 00:39:49,100 --> 00:39:51,320 everything is taken away by occupations or by 607 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:56,960 something, this person is very dangerous. Why? 608 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,160 Because sometimes we want to do stuff, but we are 609 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,520 afraid maybe we're going to go, we would go to 610 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,600 prison, we'd be arrested because, and then my wife 611 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,860 and my kids and my family and my job and my 612 00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:12,580 students. But if you have nothing to lose, no one 613 00:40:12,580 --> 00:40:16,940 to love, no family, no job, you would be fearless. 614 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:19,860 And it's good in a way and it's also bad in 615 00:40:19,860 --> 00:40:25,230 another way. Number one, Long is the way. Notice 616 00:40:25,230 --> 00:40:28,910 the word order here. The way is long, but that's 617 00:40:28,910 --> 00:40:36,430 poetic. Long is the way. And hard. Some only long, 618 00:40:37,250 --> 00:40:41,430 but also hard. That's life. Life is hard. Life is 619 00:40:41,430 --> 00:40:42,710 so long. 620 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:50,220 that out of hell leads up to life. It's like the 621 00:40:50,220 --> 00:40:54,040 way to heaven is not an easy way. It's long, it's 622 00:40:54,040 --> 00:41:01,000 hard. It's very difficult. In a way, when you read 623 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:02,740 this, you think it's from the Bible, by the way, 624 00:41:03,300 --> 00:41:06,000 because of the religious nature of the text, 625 00:41:06,180 --> 00:41:10,380 because he assumes this role. Finally, someone 626 00:41:10,380 --> 00:41:15,000 read the last quote, please. Just are the ways of 627 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,780 God unjustifiable to men unless they're beings who 628 00:41:19,780 --> 00:41:23,060 think not God at all. Okay, someone else, please. 629 00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:31,620 Just are the ways of God unjustifiable to men 630 00:41:31,620 --> 00:41:35,640 unless they're beings who think not God at all. 631 00:41:50,730 --> 00:41:58,990 I think he's talking about prophets, how they give 632 00:41:58,990 --> 00:42:03,750 us the message of God. The ways of God. 633 00:42:12,410 --> 00:42:15,550 You suffer, but this suffering is good for you, 634 00:42:15,890 --> 00:42:20,030 because eventually God is going to reward you for 635 00:42:20,030 --> 00:42:24,730 this. So generally, remember to assert eternal 636 00:42:24,730 --> 00:42:28,490 providence and justify the means or the ways of 637 00:42:28,490 --> 00:42:31,630 God to men. It's too difficult. And again, notice 638 00:42:31,630 --> 00:42:34,050 the word order here. There's emphasis on 639 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:43,080 But it's interesting also because if you follow 640 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,380 the path, you will finally go to God. It's the end 641 00:42:45,380 --> 00:42:49,300 of the sentence. If you follow the long and hard 642 00:42:49,300 --> 00:42:54,840 way to heaven, and you know it is just, you trust 643 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:57,100 God, you beg God, eventually you will love Him. 644 00:42:57,860 --> 00:43:01,160 Just are the ways of God. Unjustifiable to men. 645 00:43:01,220 --> 00:43:05,840 It's easy to see that God loves us, even if we 646 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:07,280 suffer. However, 647 00:43:13,070 --> 00:43:16,390 People who originally don't believe in God. So if 648 00:43:16,390 --> 00:43:19,350 you don't believe in God, you will not see 649 00:43:19,350 --> 00:43:23,030 justice. You will not see that even if you suffer 650 00:43:23,030 --> 00:43:26,130 eventually you will be rewarded, whether here or 651 00:43:26,130 --> 00:43:33,040 there, hereafter. OK? So this is, in a way, 652 00:43:33,100 --> 00:43:35,920 basically in brief. I know because this is an 653 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:38,500 introduction to English literature. We take like 654 00:43:38,500 --> 00:43:41,840 little things about it. But I hope my lectures or 655 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,680 the lectures or the stuff in the book also helps 656 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:52,600 you to see something in literature, to love to do 657 00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:53,740 something more on literature. 658 00:43:56,850 --> 00:43:59,030 time especially these days with the exams coming 659 00:43:59,030 --> 00:44:01,970 up please contribute you to watch some videos 660 00:44:01,970 --> 00:44:06,870 about these or go google famous quotes from 661 00:44:06,870 --> 00:44:10,950 paradises you will love what you see you can do 662 00:44:10,950 --> 00:44:15,830 this for your extra portfolio so after this we 663 00:44:15,830 --> 00:44:16,990 have paradise 664 00:44:19,590 --> 00:44:22,210 I have probably two or three minutes to speak 665 00:44:22,210 --> 00:44:25,630 about Samson Agnes. I'll be very brief. Maybe we 666 00:44:25,630 --> 00:44:29,110 can continue this after the class. Samson Agnes 667 00:44:29,110 --> 00:44:33,450 tells the story of an Israelite, Jewish person. 668 00:44:33,710 --> 00:44:38,450 Israelite, not Israeli. Israelite. God sent him to 669 00:44:38,450 --> 00:44:40,710 help the Israelites, because they were sinners, to 670 00:44:40,710 --> 00:44:43,790 protect them against the Philistines. You know 671 00:44:43,790 --> 00:44:46,990 Philistines? It's people who were living in 672 00:44:46,990 --> 00:44:50,710 Palestine at that time. Palestine, the dictionary 673 00:44:50,710 --> 00:44:53,290 is a negative word. It means a certain person who 674 00:44:53,290 --> 00:44:56,430 doesn't appreciate the heart. And we can hopefully 675 00:44:56,430 --> 00:45:00,210 talk about this later on. The Philistines were the 676 00:45:00,210 --> 00:45:06,250 enemies of the Jews, the Jewish people. So Samson 677 00:45:06,250 --> 00:45:12,610 was a fearless, powerful person, so strong that he 678 00:45:12,610 --> 00:45:18,410 could sometimes kill 1,000 Philistines with only 679 00:45:18,410 --> 00:45:24,010 something like, I don't know, a rubber. In one 680 00:45:24,010 --> 00:45:27,050 story, he kills all about, I'm not sure how many, 681 00:45:27,130 --> 00:45:31,530 but hundreds of Philistines only with a donkey's 682 00:45:31,530 --> 00:45:34,520 jaw. You know what a jaw is? Jaw. This area is 683 00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:38,700 called the Jaw. So a dead donkey's jaw, he killed 684 00:45:38,700 --> 00:45:43,260 hundreds of people, armored with swords and with 685 00:45:43,260 --> 00:45:47,020 arrows and everything. One time, he was attacked 686 00:45:47,020 --> 00:45:53,640 by a lion, and with his bare hands, he rips the 687 00:45:53,640 --> 00:46:01,300 lion into pieces. So powerful. And now, one 688 00:46:01,300 --> 00:46:16,100 Palestinian woman from Gaza named Delilah. I know 689 00:46:16,100 --> 00:46:17,420 people all over 690 00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:44,320 There is a book, someone named, called in the book 691 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:47,280 Iris in Gaza, taken from this reference and it's 692 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:51,040 from the Bible in a way or another. So Delilah, he 693 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:54,320 shouldn't fall in love with any Palestinian woman, 694 00:46:54,420 --> 00:46:57,840 he shouldn't deal with them. What he does, this is 695 00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:00,540 a sin in a way. And she was like, Samson, 696 00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:06,640 Samson, she keeps nagging and nagging and nagging 697 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:08,460 and nagging and nagging. He doesn't want to tell 698 00:47:08,460 --> 00:47:12,000 anyone, but eventually he does. He tells her it's 699 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:16,640 because of my hair. This is Samson and he has this 700 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:19,540 long curly hair. 701 00:47:25,060 --> 00:47:27,680 He cut him. The Philistines caught him. He was 702 00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,080 asleep, and they cut his hair. He's now hairless. 703 00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:33,440 They chain him. He tries to break the chains, but 704 00:47:33,440 --> 00:47:37,540 he's powerless now. He loses his power. They 705 00:47:37,540 --> 00:47:40,560 arrest him. They put him in a temple, and they 706 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:43,560 gold his eyes. He's now blind. Interesting. A 707 00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:47,580 blind Samson, blind Meltem also. But because the 708 00:47:47,580 --> 00:47:49,680 Philistines are backward and stupid, presented 709 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:53,380 this way, they forget about him, and his hair 710 00:47:53,380 --> 00:47:54,640 grows white out. 711 00:48:06,220 --> 00:48:10,280 and killing all the Palestinians. And that's the 712 00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:12,520 story of Samson Adams. It's in the Bible, it's 713 00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:15,140 typical, but it's part myth, part fiction in a 714 00:48:15,140 --> 00:48:17,460 way. Unless you believe that there are people, we 715 00:48:17,460 --> 00:48:19,920 see sometimes people with supernatural powers, 716 00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:23,120 they can drag, you know, lorries and trucks with 717 00:48:23,120 --> 00:48:25,800 their teeth. Yes, with their ears. They're 718 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,640 trained, they were not born. Okay, so this is the 719 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:30,820 story of Samson Adams. If you are interested in 720 00:48:30,820 --> 00:48:33,160 doing a presentation about this, maybe you can 721 00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:37,660 think of how the line that's Or how the 722 00:48:37,660 --> 00:48:40,660 Philistines as the others, as the enemies were 723 00:48:40,660 --> 00:48:44,560 represented. Because in a way, they were the 724 00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:48,440 natives here in Gaza, like us here in Gaza. Maybe 725 00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:51,860 someone wants to do more history research and find 726 00:48:51,860 --> 00:48:55,600 out where this took place in Gaza. I was kidding 727 00:48:55,600 --> 00:48:57,620 with the other class. I thought that Samson was 728 00:48:57,620 --> 00:49:00,840 from Syria. Some people say, no, maybe he's from 729 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:04,660 there and back or somewhere. So look into this. 730 00:49:10,770 --> 00:49:13,530 Thank you very much. Good luck.