The Chris Hedges Report

How Paradise Lost Revolutionized the World (w/ Orlando Reade) | The Chris Hedges Report

Jun 5, 2025
Orlando Reade, a Professor of English at Northeastern University London and author of What in Me Is Dark, discusses John Milton's enduring influence in his exploration of 'Paradise Lost.' He shares how the poem's revolutionary themes resonated with historical figures like Malcolm X and Thomas Jefferson. Reade also examines Milton's complex portrayal of Satan as a reflection of his own struggles against tyranny, revealing how literature can enlighten our understanding of freedom, power, and rebellion throughout history.
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INSIGHT

Milton Sees Satan as Failed Revolutionary

  • Paradise Lost reflects Milton's life and the political defeat he faced after the English Civil War.
  • Satan embodies a failed revolutionary akin to Milton himself, expressing critiques both of God and monarchy.
INSIGHT

Liberty Through Humble Acts

  • Milton's poem advocates liberty through small, humble acts, not violent revolutions.
  • Paradise Lost highlights patience, forgiveness, and meek power as heroic, diverging from traditional epic celebrations of war.
INSIGHT

Malcolm X’s Radical Interpretation

  • Malcolm X found profound parallels between Milton's Paradise Lost and Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam mythology.
  • He saw Milton's critique of colonialism and white supremacy as aligned with his own revolutionary views.
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