The Use of 'Wander' in "Paradise Lost"

Paper Summary:

In this paper, the author looks at the language in Milton's "Paradise Lost". Milton was blind as he composed the text, therefore had a limited (even for him) vocabulary to work with. The paper shows how certain words are found throughout the text which help illuminate the themes. Milton theme of "Man's First Disobedience..." is specifically examined in this essay, using the word 'wander' and its different tenses.

From the Paper:

"In the Epic Poem Paradise Lost, John Milton writes his way from the fall of Satan, through Man's own fall, while also providing a glimpse of history to contemporary times. The text begins with the lines: "Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit/ Of that forbidden tree." (1. 1-2) Milton uses the rest of the text to elucidate these lines, and an examination of specific words aids us in understanding his meaning. Milton's uses of wander (also wandered and wandering) in specific contexts help him construct the various meanings and themes of the poem. According to John Bradshaw's Concordance, wander and its various forms are used thirty-three times. Each time the word appears it is involved with the themes of man's disobedience and the resulting "fruit", and through analyzing select passages this essay examines Paradise Lost as a whole. Through the use of wander, we find man's disobedience defined as going astray from God, and that the "fruit" of this disobedience and resulting fall is journeys of conquest (physical and intellectual), sin and corruption in Man's history, and also a positive "fruit" in Man's possibility of redemption."

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