John Milton 's Paradise Lost

John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, has been the subject of criticism and interpretation through many years; these interpretations concur in that Adam and Eve are the sufferers of the poem, and it is their blight to lose Paradise because of their disobedience; however, their exile is merely a plight brought by Satan, and it is he who suffers exile before any others. Satan changes from Book I of the poem to Book XII; his introduction is heroic and grand, appearing as a hero rebelling against an unjust God. But by the finalization of Milton’s poem, Satan is a burnt shell of himself and, though ruler of Pandemonium, he sits in a throne in the lowest pit from God’s light. Satan’s exile brings forth the salvation of mankind and his own regressive transformation; tying in with the theme of disobedience, Satan’s exile gives

Adam and Eve’s eating from the fruit of the Three of Knowledge marks the very first sins ever committed after creation. In Paradise Lost Milton investigates the issue in terms of God’s judgment of them and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to the earth. Right from the very beginning the first part of Milton's argument hinges on disobedience and obedience.. Adam and Eve’s eating from the fruit of the Three of Knowledge was against God’s warning. This act of disobedience was spiritually deleterious. That sin opened Pandora’s Box to Adam and Eve, and their eyes became more sensitive to evil. In other words, eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against God, was what gave Adam and Eve the knowledge of evil and the knowledge of their nakedness their sin of disobeying God brought corruption into their lives and into the

     In Paradise Lost, the consequences of the fall and the change in relations between man and nature can best be discussed when we look at Milton's pre-fall descriptions of Eden and its inhabitants. Believing that fallen humans could never fully understand what life was like in Eden and the relationships purely innocent beings shared, Milton begins his depiction of Paradise and Adam and Eve through the fallen eyes of Satan:

On verse 498 to 502 the snake is described as a “circular base that towered folds above folds a surprising maze [...] with burnished neck [...] erect amidst his circling spires”. Thus the snake appears as a symbol of virility, a phallic form erecting from the ground and can be understood as another strategy of Satan to cajole Eve into trusting him. On the other hand this links made by Milton between sensuality and religion can be seen as a hint of the influence of the metaphysical poetry on his writting: this link beeing one of the interest of the metaphysical poets who were contemporary with Milton.

Grandiose, thought-provoking, formulaic: these are all adjectives evoked within us by epic poems and tales, driven by an unexplainable connection to a hero who through conquering strife and enduring tribulation ultimately is liberated and subsequently hailed and praised. From Gilgamesh to Beowulf to Hector and Odysseus, epic heroes and the stories that accompanied them have long driven themselves into the fabric of cultures creating a lure of nobleness, achievement, and godliness that ordinary men strived for and worshiped.

The tragic fall of humankind could be considered heroic according to well-known author John Milton. Book IX of Paradise lost portrays this sense of heroism through the sins of Adam and Eve, but also creates a sense of controversy through the unexpected personality swap between Satan and of God. This literary work is a major contribution to biblical and literary history; therefore a reason why this work is still read today. The poem must turn tragic, and Milton asserts his intention to show this great fall is more heroic than the tales of Virgil and Homer because of the humanity scope it entails. The word tragic has two meanings in Milton’s mind. First, it carries the meaning of something terrible or bad. Since before the Middle Ages, Christians have considered the fall of Adam and Eve a tragic story. On the other hand, tragic also refers to the literary concept of tragedy. “However, throughout Paradise Lost, Milton more often portrays Hell and Paradise as states of mind— the seat of these emotions” (Silverman, 85). He invokes Urania, the Celestial Patroness, and asks for her to inspire his words during his sleep. He values her guidance because he fears he is too old and lacks the creativity needed to accomplish the task all alone. He hopes to remain focused on his ultimate and divine task of portraying this story in a new light. Throughout Book IX of Paradise Lost, Milton creates a sense of moral dilemma through sympathizing with the Devil

Firstly, a few words about Satan would seem prudent, as he is the first of the fallen angels, the leader in the revolt, and the first to venture to earth to corrupt mankind. He is Milton’s main character, and the only one to extend

John Milton’s Paradise Lost illustrates the beginning of human destruction with the Fall of Man. Milton recreates the creation in an English epic and retells the events of the fall of Satan from Heaven, and the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. Eve appears to be at fault for the fall of humankind and for her and Adam’s exile from Eden, because Eve gave into Satan’s temptation. However, if Eve is at fault for the fall of all humankind, than who is at fault for Satan’s fall? God provided Adam and Eve with free will, which allowed them to roam Eden and live freely. They had one rule from God; God told them to never eat from the Tree of Knowledge. However, given that they were granted free will and Satan lurked ready to tempt Adam and Eve,

Throughout his novel, Milton focuses a great deal of time creating a backstory for Satan, who is the protagonist. Adam and Eve are not officially introduced until book four of twelve, giving Milton plenty of time to ensure the reader has built a relationship with Satan.

John Milton divided the characters in his epic poem Paradise Lost into two sides, one side under God representing good, and the other side under Satan representing evil and sin. Milton first introduced the reader to the character Satan, the representative of all evil, and his allegiance of fallen angels that aided in his revolt against God (Milton 35). Only later did Milton introduce the reader to all powerful God, leader and creator of all mankind (John). This introduction of Satan first led the reader to believe acts of sin were good, just like Eve felt in the Garden of Eden when she was enticed by Satan to eat the fruit off of the Tree of Knowledge (Milton 255). The later introduction of The Almighty had the readers change their feelings towards sin, as the ways of God were introduced to them and these ways were shown to be the way to feel and believe. This levy of good vs. evil carried on throughout the poem with the interaction of Satan and his fallen angels with God and his son in Heaven.

Beginning in Book I, the reader is introduced to the epic through the eyes of Satan, whom Milton depicts as a valiant and courageous hero. Hungry for autonomy and waging a war against God, Satan states, “All is not lost; the unconquerable will,/ And study of revenge, immortal hate,/ And courage never to submit or yield:/ And what is else not to be overcome?/ That glory shall his wrath or might/ Extort from me” (I. 106-111). Satan shows the capacity to feel courageous and resilient, neglecting the need for God’s help and painting him as the perpetrator of his current fate. Satan possessing an “unconquerable” will suggests that his decision-making is impassioned. Additionally, Satan exudes elements of God––such as love and sacrifice–– although his intent is to be nefarious to God, Satan’s devotion to a cause and willingness to sacrifice himself showcase his competence for love and selflessness. In Milton’s representation of Satan’s sentiment alone, the justification of God exists.

The concept of revenge has prevailed as an integral component of literature, exemplified in Paradise Lost written by John Milton among other works. In Paradise Lost, Satan acts as the main proponent of revenge. The actions of his character create the basis for a Miltonic ideal of revenge, later modified by Emily Brontë and Mary Shelley. Wuthering Heights written by Brontë presents Heathcliff as a modernization of Satan. The characters share the experience of evolving from their lives as outcasts within their societies by means of revenge. The monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein romanticizes the Miltonic concept of revenge found in Paradise Lost. Although the creation and experiences of Satan and the monster differ, their premises for revenge become similar as the monster realizes his contempt toward his position within society and desires to retaliate. While the revenge exemplified in Paradise Lost shares similarities with both Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, the origins of the desire for revenge, as well as its function within each book, differ due to changing life and literary styles following the writing of Paradise Lost. While the roots of the revenge of Satan lay in a desire for power, Heathcliff and the creature use revenge as a means to chase love and companionship.

In John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost, we can study the detailed account of man's fall from grace. If we follow the trajectory of Milton’s story from start to finish we find countless similarities to the biblical account of the Genesis story. First, there is the brief overview of the Creation of Man, Satan, who led the fallen angels in revolt against God, Adam and Eve prompted by the serpent, the eating of the forbidden fruit, the awareness of their nakedness and shame, and the covering of themselves with leaves, all the way to the Son’s redemptive sacrifice to restore mankind.

As Book VIII of John Milton’s Paradise Lost begins, the “new-waked” human Adam ponders the nature of the universe and the motion of the stars (ll. 4-38). When Adam has finished his speech, Milton takes the opportunity to describe Eve, who is listening nearby. We find Eve reclining in the Garden, but with grace, not laziness: “she sat retired in sight,/With lowliness majestic from her seat” (41-42). This “lowliness majestic” is the central phrase to understanding Eve’s character—she is both humble and glorious. Everything that beholds her is captivated by her “grace that won who saw to wish her stay” (43). Even in this paradise, every other beautiful creation is drawn to Eve. She walks

Through his work of Paradise Lost, Milton exposes his view that God allows suffering in order for a greater good of the human race to exist. Milton uses the Fall- both Satan’s and Adam and Eve’s- as a device to demonstrate human corruption, as each fall is “a step down from a higher being to a lower being”. Both the Fall of Satan and the Fall of Adam & Eve are falls away from a position of divine power to a position of chaos and disorder- something Milton illustrates as an undesirable event. Milton introduces Satan as a selfish, power-hungry character; similar to an individual of today’s society who believes they are the greatest- nobody can ‘one-up’ them. He inherently denies of the existence of a greater God, as that would discredit his own belief that he is the utmost being. Instead of blind denial, Satan instead builds up a power against God himself, in an effort to “contest the throne of Heaven” (slide). However, this in of itself is a hypocrisy on his own beliefs, as he cannot be autonomous in a search for autonomy, since he is unable to defeat God on his own. This is Satan’s first fall, because he has now relinquished his stance on denying a being greater than himself, and must maintain his uprising unless he wants to face what Milton would consider a second Fall. Milton uses Satan as a representation of disobedience within the human race; he is the ‘wrong direction’ in the two paths of moral decisions. He uses Satan to show that rebellion that stems from self-