OTHER WORLDS AND HAPPY ISLES: UTOPIAN ELEMENTS IN PARADISE LOST BY JOHN MILTON

This paper aims to explore the possibility of finding utopian tracts in Milton's representation of Hell in ParadiseLost. First, I propose a brief analysis of the Scientific Revolution's influence upon Milton's utopic imaginary and its relation to the idea of a multiplicity and alterity of worlds, subsequently examining his appropriation of the utopic genre, including Thomas More's Utopia. Next, I focus on certain elements that characterize the Hell in ParadiseLost as a tragic utopia: among the devils, in fact, civic values such as social harmony and a republican order exist. I suggest that Milton creates this paradoxical representation of Hell in order to effect a polemic comparison between human and infernal societies.