我的惡/善：對彌爾頓筆下革命英雄的善惡漸變演繹之詮釋

Abstract

彌爾頓的史詩巨著《失樂園》（Paradise Lost）並沒有落入文學理論的俗套， 而是引發了一場持續三百多年的爭論，即：彌爾頓筆下的撒旦到底是不是故事中的英雄人物，不論是出於偶然還是主觀意願。這部史詩的背景是《聖經》伊甸園的故事，其核心主題與這個故事一樣，都是關於”誘惑”。在《失樂園》中，撒旦對亞當和夏娃的惡意誘惑似乎證明瞭他的邪惡，但同時，我們也會對他在這一冒險行動中所展示出的英雄情懷產生認同感。許多西方的批評家認為這正是《失樂園》的魅力所在，他們的觀點是彌爾頓筆下的撒旦應該是被唾棄的人物。而另一方面，有些人則認為這種傳統的解讀是中世紀的落後思想，即：人們應當服從權威和已繼承的智慧，並嚴格地控制自己 的想法和熱情。而且他們認為這種解讀完全違背了當代社會所宣導的自由寬容和浮士德價值觀。這篇論文首先將探討對《失樂園》的傳統解讀，以及它所引發的反應。我會闡述彌爾頓的作品所體現的西方文化中的道德反轉：從一開始把”撒旦”奉為政治革命的象徵性人物，到後來批判為人性墮落的典型。分析了文學理論和大眾在”政治認同”角度對撒旦這個人物的評價的變化之後，我將對”後現代思想”和”存在主義”著作與《失樂園》進行比較性閱讀，例如《撒旦的現實意義》（對自由的強烈渴望帶來焦慮，並需要行動）。撒旦的認同危機可以分為三個主要階段 ：在被異化的危機中形成了主觀意識 、對權貴話語權的反抗，以及最終沒能免除對自己的定罪。這篇論文的目的是展示現代思想家們對”邪惡”定義的普遍否定，而這種否定是與人類的自由和創造力的源頭相矛盾的（這種否定會導致自由和創造邊的消亡）。此外，我還將闡述：對所謂”邪惡現象”的沉默是怎樣導致和延續社會不公，以及少數族裔的邊緣化。

Paradise Lost is a unique text in that responses to Milton’s epic have not evolved in line with trends in literary theory, and instead rehash the three hundred year old disagreement on whether Milton’s Satan is, in any sense, either by accident or deliberation, the hero of the story. This dialogue, like the biblical story of the Garden of Eden on which the epic is based, centers on the theme of temptation: in Paradise Lost Satan’s deliberate and malicious destruction of Adam and Eve seems to guarantee his guilt, yet it is hard not to sympathize with the heroic passion of Satan’s daring odyssey. Many modern critics read this as exactly the genius of Paradise Lost, that it is a seductive text, and that Milton’s Satan must be resisted. On the other hand, it’s easy to argue that this orthodox reading is medieval—a duty towards obedience to inherited wisdom and the strict containment of your own passionate tendencies; and that this reading is also completely at odds with the liberal, Faustian values of contemporary society. In this thesis, after exploring the orthodox response to Paradise Lost (and the reaction it generates), I’ll demonstrate how Milton’s writings are symptomatic of an ethical inversion in Western culture, which first caused Satan to be celebrated (as a symbol for revolutionary politics) and later condemned (as humanity confronted the depths of its unrestrained depravity). After tracing how responses to the character of Satan have evolved in literature and entertainment in line with political sympathies, my original contribution to knowledge will be a comparative reading of Paradise Lost through the lens of postmodern thought and existentialism as Satan’s over-proximity with the Real (the abyss of freedom creates anxiety which demands action). Satan’s crisis of identity can be divided into three major shifts: the development of subjectivity through a crisis of alienation; his resistance to a totalizing power discourse that defines his being; and his ultimate failure to exempt himself from the systemic order that relied on his transgression. The aim of this thesis will be to show how universally modern thinkers agree on the concept of evil as a negation of what is, in favor of anything else but this—a negation that is paradoxically the source of all human liberty and creativity (which nevertheless leads to death); and also to demonstrate how the silencing of so-called satanic elements allows and perpetuates social injustice and the marginalization of minority voices.