Abstract：Since the 21st century, the relationship between Milton’s Paradise Lost and science fiction (SF) has gained more and more attention from the academic community, but the existing studies are either ambiguous or often off-target. Ambiguity refers to the emergence of the claims that Paradise Lost contains the “SF germ,” “can be described as SF” or “is SF”. Although it is clear from these statements that Milton’s Paradise Lost has very deep roots in SF, the claim that “Paradise Lost is SF” needs to be modified thoroughly. Off-targetness refers to the fact that Milton’s relationship with fantasy literature has received increasing critical attention, but such studies tend to be partial studies of “Milton and fantasy,” ignoring the relationship between “Milton and SF”.
Based on a close reading of the text, the authors sort out the SF elements in Paradise Lost: the new universe (self-consistent cosmology + space travel), the new inhabitants (aliens + monster + mad scientist) and the new technology (the concept of virtual reality). First of all, due to the limitations of religious orthodox dogma, the cosmology in Paradise Lost revolves around three common religious locations: Heaven, Eden and Hell, which are subject to their respective laws and regulations. The separation of regimes in each world in Paradise Lost is the premise of Milton’s well-ordered universe. Within this cosmology, space travel becomes possible, referring mainly to the travels of Satan and Raphael. Through comparison, we can not only see the contrast between darkness and light through the divergent descriptions of the two space trips, but also discover the influence of the great geographical discoveries and Galileo’s telescope on Milton’s narrative poem. Secondly, the appearance of a new world attracts new inhabitants, referring mainly to the aliens, namely, the angels. Among the poet’s angels, the most influential one for future generations is the fallen angel Satan, who may be regarded as a colonizer of the earth and also one of the prototypes of “monster” and “mad scientist” in modern SF. Thirdly, inspired by Yan Feng’s re-reading the classical Chinese novel The Dream of the Red Chamber from the perspective of virtual reality, the authors propose that the concept of virtual reality technology in the 21st century has already taken shape in Paradise Lost. Specifically, it is related to the reflection, dream and illusion in Paradise Lost, i.e. Eve’s reflection in the lake, Eve’s dream created by Satan and the hallucinatory vision of the rebel angels. These three groups of SF elements analyzed above together constitute the “SF impulses” of this epic, revealing the future direction of the many thought experiments in Paradise Lost and the intertwined ideological understones of science and religion.
The imagination of new universe, new inhabitants and new technology in Paradise Lost has left abundant implications of SF for future generations. Taking “SF impulses” as a keyword, the article re-reads the classic work Paradise Lost, offering three innovative points. First, the research topic is new. On the basis of a familiar knowledge of the history of SF and classic literature, this article selects Paradise Lost, a classic text of the seventeenth century, as the research object, and connects modern SF with early modern classic literature. Second, the research idea is original. The general framework of the article – “new universe,” “new inhabitants” and “new technology” – integrates modern SF with classic epic. Third, the research methodology is innovative. Science is indispensable to the germination of SF, and Milton lived in 17th-century England, which witnessed the geographical discovery and the first scientific revolution. Tracing the origins of modern SF in connection with Paradise Lost is of great significance: it helps to further clarify and enhance the status and value of SF in contemporary times; it helps to maintain the timelessness and immortality of classic and traditional literature; and it promotes the crossing, comparing, and convergence of the traditional epic and modern SF.
