The problem of reason and cognition in the J. Milton's poem “Paradise Lost” and in the D. G. Byron's “Cain, a Mystery”

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Doklady Bashkirskogo Universiteta. 2023. Volume 8. No. 2. pp. 52-58.

Authors

Mikhaylenko E. N.
Ufa University of Science and Technology
32 Zaki Validi st., 450076 Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia

Abstract

The author of this article compares the reflections of J. Milton and D. G. Byron about the possibilities and limitations of the human mind, presented in “Paradise Lost” and “Cain: a Mystery”. It is concluded that, according to both poets, under the conditions of external pressure, a thinking person inevitably comes to the realization of the futility of reasonable transformational activity. The only sphere of mind power is the inner world of man, understood by Milton and Byron as the citadel of intellectual freedom and the source of constant spiritual resistance.

Keywords

  • English poetry
  • Byron
  • Milton
  • “Paradise Lost”
  • “Cain: a Mystery”
  • myth of the fall
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