Paradise Lost by John Milton | Characters

let's talk about some of the characters in John Milton's Paradise Lost known in heaven before his fall as the Archangel Lucifer light bringer Satan is cast into hell after leading a massive rebellion against God at times conflicted about his intentions to resist an all-powerful God Satan ultimately realizes he's doomed to eternal suffering he corrupts God's newly created race of humans even though Satan is the evil antagonist of the story milton styles him as an epic hero gives him great lines and makes him the poems most complex character God is the omniscient ruler of heaven and the universe he sees and knows everything past present and future and though he expects obedience from all of his creatures he has also endowed them with free will so that their love and obedience is by choice Milton's God is not very relatable here he does little with his own hands and he lacks satan's range of emotion the son is the active agent of God's merciful judgment who volunteers to die for the sins of mankind eventually he will return to life as Jesus to defeat Satan before returning to heaven Adam is created by God to be innocent and perfect and God imbued him with free will making Adam and all humankind susceptible to temptation his curiosity shows an innate human desire for knowledge Adam is closer to God than Eve is and he's supposed to be smarter and stronger but he yearns for human companionship and his attachment to Eve is the cause of his fall Milton's Eve both conforms to and stretches early-modern expectations of gender roles she's made of Adam's rib to be his helpmate and companion but Eve also shows independent thinking and her curiosity for knowledge matches Adams though Raphael tells Adam that Eve lacks wisdom and strength Adam thinks of her as is equal Satan sees her independent spirit as an easier target and he seduces her to eat the fruit leading to the fall of mankind

Channel: Course Hero

Views: 30,609

Keywords: short summary, quick analysis, summarized poetry (literary genre), paradise lost (book), john milton (author)

Id: mHvnm7JCtv0

Length: 2min 29sec (149 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 28 2018