This MA thesis examines the representation of the Fall of Man in John Milton’s 'Paradise Lost' from a Lacanian angle. Using Lacan’s ‘Mirror Stage’ and his tripartite schema of the ‘Real’, the ...Show moreThis MA thesis examines the representation of the Fall of Man in John Milton’s 'Paradise Lost' from a Lacanian angle. Using Lacan’s ‘Mirror Stage’ and his tripartite schema of the ‘Real’, the ‘Imaginary’, and the ‘Symbolic’ orders as a template, I will address the repercussions of the Fall and establish to what extent the move from the Real, through the Imaginary, to the Symbolic can be seen to be mirrored in the move from a pre-lapsarian state to a post-lapsarian reality in 'Paradise Lost'. In the first chapter, I argue that, since God exists in perfect proximity to the Real-like Word, Satan embodies the post-lapsarian Symbolic word in and through his separation from God's prototypical, pre-lapsarian language. In chapter two, I extend this main argument and apply it more locally to the Edenic level of Adam and Eve and their respective relationships with the Word of God. The Fall of Man, then, comes to feature as the event that introduces the Lacanian Symbolic order to Eden, by the hand of Satan, its prime instigator.Show less
