Allegory, Gendered Allegory, and Paradise Lost

In Paradise Lost, John Milton's allegorical personifications, Sin and Death exist in a peculiar ontological space. They are not angels like Raphael or Abidel, but they are not human like our "Grand Parents," Adam and Eve. Their existence in the poem has confused and troubled scholars for centuries, but Sin and Death are more than a rhetorical anomaly. In my first chapter I analyze the ontological status and purpose of these characters based on their effect on the poem's internal cosmology. From that analysis, I continue my discussion by focusing on Sin and her gender, which, based on her placement in the narrative and her troubling characterization, has a direct effect on how readers interpret the only other woman in the poem, Eve.No embargoAcademic Major: Englis