The Ideology of Puritanism in John Milton’s Paradise Lost

John Milton can be considered one of the key figures who was not satisfied with the dominant religion and struggled to intensify the essence of Protestantism in form of Puritanism. Through a minute analysis of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and the religious context he lived in, his Puritan ideology in his masterpiece can be traced. It is believed that there are a number of puritan elements embedded in book IX of Paradise Lost. Therefore, the authors try to reveal, enumerate and explain these elements. In doing so, Louis Althusser’s symptomatic reading of ideology will be applied as a background theory so as to justify the main idea of the study. Moreover, the will show how book IX of Paradise Lost can be viewed as the epitome of misogyny; so it makes an effort to nullify McColley’s claim regarding Milton’s equality of sexes.