Paradise Lost temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men". In his introduction to the Penguin edition of "Paradise Lost", the Milton scholar John Leonard notes, "John Milton was nearly sixty when he published Paradise Lost in 1667. The biographer John Aubrey (1626–97) tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. However, parts were almost certainly written earlier, and its roots lie in Milton's earliest youth." Leonard speculates that the
The Story of Marie Powell: Wife to Mr. Milton The Story of Marie Powell: Wife to Mr. Milton The Story of Marie Powell: Wife to Mr. Milton, by Robert Graves, 1943, is a 1943 historical novel based on a true story, the life of the young wife of poet John Milton. Graves tells it from her viewpoint and paints an unflattering portrait of Milton. In addition to Milton and Marie, real historical characters included in the story include Edmund Verney, who is depicted as Marie's true love. Summarising the novel for the Carcanet edition, Simon Brittan wrote that: "Graves regards [Milton] as one of the heinous monsters in the