Paradise Lost by John Milton | Summary & Analysis

as a young poet John Milton promised a great epic about the military feats of King Arthur or some other national hero devoted to the glory of England but at the end of his career he published an epic about the fall of Satan and humankind set in the cosmic realms of Hell in heaven in which England has never mentioned in-between he experienced devastating personal losses and great political crises Paradise Lost shows the evolution and culmination of a long career deeply engaged with the historical events of his lifetime the poem revolutionizes the conventions of epic poetry and raises radical questions about marriage monarchy free will and national heroes John Milton was born on December 9 1608 to a middle-class religiously Protestant family in London England as a young student he began writing poetry and started training to become an Anglican priest even though his interest in religion prevailed throughout his life he gave up his pursuit of the priesthood to devote his time to writing poetry and to studying ancient and modern languages literature science politics and philosophy after years of poor eyesight in 1651 Milton went completely blind Paradise Lost was published long afterward in 1667 and 1674 comprising nearly 11,000 lines of blank verse the poem was immediately popular today it's regarded as the greatest epic poem in English Milton died in November 1670 for and his works continue to influence the conventions of storytelling religion and politics John Milton considered himself a radical Protestant Christian he was deeply opposed to England's ruling Anglican Church believing that the separation of the Anglican Church into other Protestant groups was a good thing he eventually abandoned Presbyterianism on the grounds that all organized religions blocked people's access to spirituality disdainful of the monarchy he supported the revolution that led to the regicide of Charles the first in 1649 and he served as an appointed official in the Commonwealth Government and the Protectorate of oliver cromwell after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 milton fled and went into hiding to avoid being jailed or executed milton believed strongly in an individual's right to freedom seen in his stance in support of divorce for milton god was the only true king and any human monarch was automatically tyrannical women contemporary readers tend to find milton's view of women problematic his interpretation of the Bible on this subject is quite literal women are inferior to men and must submit to them and yet Adam chooses his companion Eve over obedience to God offering a vision of companionship marriage that was progressive in Milton's day moreover Milton's Eve isn't simply a sexual temptress she's a complex being with a strong desire to acquire knowledge and be independent epic poetry Paradise Lost radical Erie conceives the genre of epic poetry casting Satan and his army and magnificent heroic guys and elevating a married couple to the status of epic heroes epic action is revolutionised as well moving from martial exploits to moral battles elevating the heavy burden of human free will stylistically Milton rejects heroic couplets tying the constraints of rhyme to the political censor of his day John Milton invokes a heavenly muse and begins his story in medius race the rising action of the poem begins when God has passed Satan and his rebel army of fallen angels out of heaven led by Satan these fallen angels decide to continue their resistance to God by corrupting man God's newest creation Satan's children sin and death help him exit through the gates of Hell 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 their beauty and happiness that indicates God's favor though he has a moment of doubt Satan stays resolved in 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 Satan is discovered whispering into Eve's dreams and he flees God sends his Archangel Raphael to warn Adam about Satan's plotting as a warning against disobedience Raphael tells Adam the story of Satan's rebellion in heaven the ultimate defeat of his army and his expulsion to 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 Eve eats the fruit and then offers it to Adam he eats it so that 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 is delighted by his success and his children sin and death build a bridge linking hell and earth Satan returns triumphant to hell but the Sun transforms him and all of 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 world to reflect Adam and Eve spawn 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 his 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 God's blood will wipe out all but Noah's family and their animals the vision of Noah's 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 while God rarely intercedes personally with his creatures choosing instead to send intermediaries such as angels or the Sun he sends Satan a powerful sign of his justice the symbol of God's justice represents his ultimate power and knowledge making Satan's resistance pointless fruit from the tree of knowledge the fruit symbolizes the seductive temptation to gain knowledge that only God should know god forbids Adam and Eve from eating it which makes them want it even more eating it causes both of them to fall from they're innocent and ignorant state the adil ik Garden of Eden symbolizes God's favor and his direct connection to Adam and Eve once Adam and Eve disobey God they are banished from the garden making it a symbol of the fall and the material separation between earth and heaven obedience and disobedience milton stiles satan's disobedience to god is political rebellion but not so the fall of adam and eve seen much more as a domestic dispute with both stories of fallen creatures Milton suggests that the order of the world depends on obedience to God sin and innocence innocence for Adam and Eve is closely connected to their ignorance when they lose their innocence it's because they disobey God's instructions and bring sin into the world once they have sinned they can never be innocent again fate and free will if God has knowledge of everything that has happened and will ever happen and also possesses the power to change anything do his creatures really have free will Milton tries to make the case that God is careful not to influence his creatures but to leave their individual choices to them even when he can see the outcome he does this because he wants all his creatures to obey Him out of love not because they are forced to it has been said of John Milton that no other major English poet has been so deeply involved in the great questions and political crises of his times and indeed Paradise Lost offers an epic version of milton's often radical political and religious views but perhaps most memorable is milton's decidedly heroic and human Satan proud and ambitious yes but brave and courageous with all the best lines his resistance to submission is more satisfying than Adams lesson of obedience and fear Milton compiled his great epic under the extreme conditions of blindness and age and he leaves us contemplating the difficult but potentially heroic burden of choice and free will you

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Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 28 2018