The Alien Leader in the English Civil War: Examining Paradise Lost and The Blazing World :: Paradise lost Blazing World

The Alien Leader in the English gracious War Examining Paradise Lost and The Blazing WorldThroughout history, many great conquerors and powerful drawing cards were stranges in their communities. Examples are Alexander the Great, who was Macedonian and led the Greeks, Josef Stalin, who was Georgian and later became dictator of the U.S.S.R., Adolf Hitler, the Austrian Fuhrer of Germany, and Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican nationalist conqueror in France. In two primary work of seventeenth century British literature, Paradise Lost and The Blazing World, legerdemain Milton and Margaret Cavendish both employ the device of the alien attraction, but they employ these devices in different ways which belie their thoughts on alien-ness and attractorship, Milton being a Roundhead and Cavendish a Cavalier during the course of the English Civil War, however, while the historical and modern applications are fascinating, the textual analysis provides a strong basis in and of itself to theo rize on their applications of the alien leader. Miltons Satan is a leader of a familiar tribe in an alien place. Miltons immortal1 is a leader of a created population in a created place, but the population and the leader are wholly new to one another, thus making the leader alien to the people. Cavendishs Empress, on the other hand, is an alien leader to a population familiar with their surroundings. When we examine these similarities and differences, we find two particularized and important questions emerge first, is the leader a more effective leader because he/she is alien? Second. does the leader like his/her alien state? To be an effective leader, obviously, one must first be a leader. peerless cannot be an effective or successful teacher if one has no students, nor can one be an effective communicator if no audience exists. In much the same way, a leader requires both a field of forcea king without a kingdom is no king--and followers. This may be to be overly sim ple, but this understanding is often neglected when considering leadership, whether alien or familiar. Satans sphere was altered to enable him to lead. God had to create humans so he could lead them. The Empress was, like Satan, subjected to portion beyond her control which placed her into a different sphere with radically unusual followers.When Satan and his followers fall from heaven and descend into the pits in Paradise Lost, Satan becomes the prince of Hell by default, as he was the wartime leader of the angels.