Paradise Lost
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Durham E-Theses Tales from the Levant: The Judeo-Arabic Demonic `Other' and John Milton's Paradise Lost AL-AKHRAS, SHARIHAN,SAMEER,ATA How to cite: AL-AKHRAS, SHARIHAN,SAMEER,ATA (2017) Tales from the Levant: The Judeo-Arabic Demonic `Other' and John Milton's Paradise Lost, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12614/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Tales from the Levant: The Judeo-Arabic Demonic ‘Other’ and John Milton’s Paradise Lost By Sharihan Al-Akhras A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of English Studies Durham University 2017 Abstract This thesis revisits Milton’s employment of mythology and the demonic, by shedding a light on a neglected, yet intriguing possible presence of Middle-Eastern mythology – or as identified in this thesis – Judeo-Arabic mythology in Paradise Lost. The mythographic reception of Milton’s work has been rightly discussed within a Greco-Roman frame. However, this thesis offers for a consideration an analysis of the unique role of Judeo- Arabic mythology. By doing so, the thesis not only aims to enrich the dualistic analyses of ‘East-West’, ‘Christian-Muslim’ and ‘Anglo-Ottoman’ relations, when tackling this angle of Early Modern studies, but also to generally demonstrate the way seventeenth-century literature encompassed multifaceted and interchangeable allusions to both Islam and Judaism in Catholic and Protestant writing. The thesis directs its attention towards examining the possible presence of two Judeo-Arabic demonic figures in Paradise Lost: the Islamic devil, Iblis, and his consort in the Jewish tradition, Lilith. The argument demonstrates the way Milton’s deployment of the Judeo-Arabic demonic not only mirrors the Biblical story of the Fall, but also connects with the political and religious upheavals of his age, including the emergence of the first English translation of the Qur’an in 1649. Furthermore, by examining the two Judeo- Arabic demonic figures in Paradise Lost not only the treatment of the demonic in Milton’s work is revisited in a way that allows for a wider scope of literary analysis, but the complex treatment of gender, identity and ‘the Other’ are similarly understood within a more pluralistic context. The thesis then concludes with the first discussion of the contemporary reception of Milton’s Paradise Lost in the writings of Arab women specifically, exploring the way the very same demonic, discussed throughout the thesis, is deployed by these female Arab authors while resisting and redefining the role of gender in religion, society and politics. i Contents ABSTRACT I LIST OF FIGURES III DEDICATION V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS VI COPYRIGHT/DECLARATION VII THESIS OUTLINE 1 CHAPTER ONE: ANGLO-OTTOMAN RELATIONS IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND & SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ARABIC STUDIES 16 THE FLOURISHING ANGLO-OTTOMAN RELATIONS OF THE ELIZABETHAN AGE 25 ARABIC AS THE LANGUAGE OF THE ‘MUSLIM EAST’ 31 THE RISE OF ARABIC STUDIES IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND 36 CHAPTER TWO: DEMONISING THE JUDEO-ARABIC ‘OTHER’ IN ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE REFORMATION: EASTERN SEDUCTIVENESS AND FALSE FAITHS 51 ISLAM AND JUDAISM IN REFORMATION LITERATURE 54 TALES OF DEMONIC ‘OTHERS’ 72 The Sultan 73 Jewish Enchantresses: Lilith the Infanticidal Eve 83 Rethinking Muhammad: Satanic Whispers and the Antichrist 85 Fears of Conversion: Dangerous Wives 102 CHAPTER THREE: SATAN AS IBLIS, THE FALLEN SULTAN 120 THE DEVOUT AZAZEL 129 SATAN AND IBLIS: DEMONS OF MELANCHOLY 135 DEVILISH TACTICS: WHISPERING, EAVESDROPPING AND SHAPE-SHIFTING 144 SATAN THE GREAT SULTAN 150 CHAPTER FOUR: “[…] THROUGH THE AIR SHE COMES / LUR’D WITH THE SMELL OF INFANT BLOOD”: SIN AT THE GATE OF HELL 156 THE ‘SNAKIE SORCERESS’ OF HELL 158 ‘REST OR INTERMISSION NONE I FIND’ 163 CHAPTER FIVE: THE REFLECTIVE EVE: JUDEO-ARABIC IMAGERY OF THE DEMONIC FEMININE IN EVE’S MIRROR SCENE 183 ‘WISDOM [...] ALONE IS TRULY FAIR’ 195 THE ‘MURMURING SOUND / OF WATERS’ 204 ‘MULTITUDES LIKE THY SELF’: THE PROMISE OF MOTHERHOOD 208 ‘TO KNOW NO MORE / IS WOMAN’S HAPPIEST KNOWLEDGE AND HER PRAISE’ 218 SEEKING AFTER WISDOM: THE QUEEN OF SHEBA 222 CHAPTER SIX: REWRITING MILTON IN LITERATURE OF RESISTANCE BY ARAB WOMEN 231 EARLY INFLUENCE: TRANSLATIONS AND LITERARY WORKS 233 MILTON’S EVE AND THE NARRATIVE OF RESISTANCE IN ARABIC FEMINIST WRITING 247 CONCLUSION 259 APPENDIX 264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 271 ii List of Figures FIG. 1: MATTHIAS GERUNG, APOCALYPSE AND SATIRICAL ALLEGORIES ON THE CHURCH (C. 1558). [BRITISH MUSEUM, 1911,0708.122] 66 FIG. 2: THE CRESCENT-SHAPED SILVER MEDAL USED BY THE DUTCH MERCENARY NAVAL FORCES (GEUZEN/SEA BEGGARS) (1574) AT THE TIME OF DUTCH REVOLT AGAINST CATHOLIC SPAIN. [WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/PUBLIC DOMAIN] 71 FIG. 3: THE ANTICHRIST WITH THREE HEADS FROM THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY. [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 77 FIG. 4: AN ANONYMOUS ARTIST’S DEPICTION FROM THE 1900S OF KRAMPUS IN A CARD ENTITLED: GRUSS VOM KRAMPUS (‘GREETINGS FROM KRAPMUS’). [PUBLIC DOMAIN] 82 FIG. 5: GUSTAVE DORÉ, INFERNO, CANTO 28 : FOMENTERS OF DISCORD AND SCHISM: THE MUTILATED SHADE OF MAHOMET, ILLUSTRATION FROM ‘THE DIVINE COMEDY’ BY DANTE ALIGHIERI (1885) DIGITALLY COLOURED ENGRAVING). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 88 FIG. 6: MAHOMET PROPHETE DES TURCS FROM MICHEL BAUDIER’S HISTOIRE GÉNÉRALE DE LA RELIGION DES TURCS (PARIS: CLAUDE CRAMOISY, 1625). [BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, 149.C.8] 101 FIG. 7: ALBRECHT DÜRER, THE GREAT WHORE AND THE BEAST, APOCALYPSE (1497). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 106 FIG. 8: LUCA SIGNORELLI, THE PREACHING OF THE ANTICHRIST, DETAIL OF CHRIST AND THE DEVIL; THE CHAPEL OF THE MADONNA DI SAN BRIZIO, (1499-1504; FRESCO). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 141 FIG. 9: WYNKYN DE WORDE, HERE BEGYNNETH A LYTELL TREATISE OF THE TURKS LAWE CALLED ALCORAN. AND ALSO IT SPEKETH OF MACHAMET THE NYGROMANCER (LONDON: 1515), FACING TITLE PAGE. [BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, C.25.K.13] 142 FIG. 10: THOMAS HEYWOOD, THE HIERARCHIE OF THE BLESSED ANGELLS (LONDON: ADAM ISLIP, 1635). [THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD, 1653/530] 143 iii FIG. 11: P. P. BOUCHE, AN ENGRAVING OF SATAN IN THE SHAPE OF A TOAD FROM THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF MILTON’S PARADISE LOST (1688) (DIGITAL COPY). [BRITISH LIBRARY HMNTS 644.M.16] 147 FIG. 12: WILLIAM HOGARTH, SATAN, SIN AND DEATH (1792). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 161 FIG. 13: MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, THE ORIGINAL SIN AND THE EXPULSION FROM PARADISE, SISTINE CHAPEL FRESCO (1508-12). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 166 FIG. 14: JOHN COLLIER, LILITH (1892). [THE ATKINSON ART GALLERY, SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND] 171 FIG. 15: AN ENGRAVING OF THE GHOUL TRYING TO TEMPT THE PRINCE FROM EDWARD LANE’S THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1865). 177 FIG. 16: JULES RIHOMME, EVE’S REFLECTION IN THE WATER, FROM A FRENCH EDITION OF PARADISE LOST, ENGRAVED BY ST. EVE AND LALAISSE, PUBLISHED 1868 (LITHO). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 185 FIG. 17: MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO, NARCISSUS (1597-99). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 189 FIG. 18: JOHN MARTIN, SATAN CONTEMPLATING EVE IN PARADISE (1827). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 206 FIG. 19: TWO MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURY, OF THE ARABIC DEVIL IBLIS ENTITLED IBLIS, LORD OF ALL DEMONS AND HIS CONSORT, LILITH, ENTITLED TABIA. [OXFORD DIGITAL LIBRARY, MS. BODL. OR. 133; FOLIO 33A AND FOLIO 29B RESPECTIVELY] 210 FIG. 20: DANTE GABRIEL CHARLES ROSSETTI, LADY LILITH (1868). [BRIDGEMAN EDUCATION] 214 iv Dedication To My Teta My Grandmother... Who knew that the Cavptivating Tales... Passed on by an Illiterate Woman... About Ghouls, Tree Spirits and Women with Serpentine Tails Could Grant another Woman... The Key to Fullfiling her Childhood Dreams? Your Sweet Words and Unmatched Wisdome... It Seems... Forever... Will Be ...A Part of Me. v Acknowledgments Desipte the standard words of acknowledgment written in every thesis, this thesis really would not have even had the glimpse of hope of nearing completion had it not been for the people mentioned here. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to: My husband Dr Alexander Webb who has endured every moment of struggle with me for more than four long years. There were moments when I genuinely thought I would never be able to successfully deliver a complete work, yet he continued to motivate me and to assure me that ‘I am almost there’, even though I have been ‘almost there’ for years. Thank you. You are my home. To my parents who have been waiting for this moment longer than I can remember. My mother is every inspiration I need to understand the real definition of the term ‘strong woman’. My father has endured unbearable pain due to health complications. He taught me the meaning of the word ‘survivor’. I hope with the completion of this degree, I can inspire a moment of happiness in their lives. To my best friend Miss Lillian Sammour. Her beautiful spirit, sense of humour and fierce personality has brought happiness to my difficult journey. Her strength and independence continue to inspire me in moments of despair. And to my supervisor Dr Mandy Green. Dr Green gave a chance to a student from Jordan with terrible writing skills. She endured reading careless mistakes in messy chapters and panic emails/calls that were to say the least, unnecessesary.