Paradise Lost by John Milton | Plot Summary

the introduction of Paradise Lost conforms to epic tradition with John Milton stating his theme of the fall and invoking a heavenly muse to inspire his effort to justify the ways of God to man he begins his story in medius race the rising action of the poem begins when God has cast Satan and his rebel army of fallen angels out of heaven and they are floating on a fiery lake in hell led by Satan these fallen angels form a Council to debate how to continue their resistance to God through his second-in-command Satan convinces them that the best target is man God's newest creation Satan volunteers to fly to the world full of God's new creatures his children sin and death help him exit through the gates of hell when Satan promises to return territory usurped by God chaos and night direct him to the new world God already knows that Satan will succeed in tempting and corrupting mankind he announces that man will be punished for his disobedience because he created humans to be strong enough to withstand such temptations he claims that his new creations will be punished by death unless someone in heaven is willing to die on their behalf God's only son volunteers Satan lands in the new world and sneaks into the Garden of Eden disguised as a cherub once inside the garden he watches Adam and Eve and his envious of the beauty and happiness that indicates God's favor though he has a moment of doubt Satan stays resolved to his plan to corrupt them he overhears Adam and Eve discussing the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge and Satan decides to seduce them with this fruit Uriel an angel guarding paradise realizes that the cherub is really Satan in disguise and he sends angels to find the intruder they find Satan at Eve's ear whispering into her dreams and they return Satan to Gabriel Satan prepares for battle but God then sends a warning a pair of golden scales in the sky to demonstrate the futility of Satan's resistance recognizing that God has the ultimate power and advantage Satan flees God decides that although he cannot control their actions he must warn Adam and Eve about Satan so he sends his Archangel Raphael to Adam to remind him of his free will and to warn him about Satan's plotting Raphael also tells Adam the story of Satan's rebellion in heaven the ultimate defeat of his army and his expulsion into hell after Raphael finishes telling Adam the story Satan returns to the Garden of Eden taking on the form of a serpent in the climax of the poem Satan finds Eve alone and tempts her with knowledge and status if she eats the fruit of the tree of knowledge after hesitating she eats the fruit and then offers it to Adam though he realizes that they're doomed Adam eats the fruit so they will share the same fate in the falling action God is angry and sends the son to the Garden of Eden to deliver his judgment Eve and all women will experience pain and childbirth and they must submit to their husbands will Adam and all men will labor to grow food from cursed ground Satan's delighted by his success and his children sin and death build a bridge between how and earth Satan returns triumphant to hell but the Sun transforms him and all his followers into serpents doomed to eternally hunger for fruit that turns to ashes when they bite into it God next orders angels to change the new world to reflect Adam and Eve's fall and they alter the weather and create discord between humans and animals Adam and Eve argue and blame each other for their condition but ultimately they confess to God ask pardon and repent God is merciful promising to reward their obedience with an afterlife in heaven God sends the Archangel Michael to show Adam visions of their future Cain will murder Abel tyrants will rule and gods flood will wipe out all but Noah's family and their animals the vision of Noah survival offers Adam hope in addition to depicting the suffering that humans will endure in the resolution Adam and Eve finally leave paradise accepting their fate

Channel: Course Hero

Views: 196,996

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

Id: rqgUsVoLbl4

Length: 4min 49sec (289 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 28 2018