Paradise Lost Analysis Essay Example For Students

Paradise Lost Analysis Essay 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. The common representation of sin and evil came from the lead character in the battle against God, Satan. His name means enemy of God. He was a former high angel from Heaven named Lucifer, meaning, light bearer (John). Satan became jealous in Heaven of Gods son and formed an allegiance of angels to battle against God, only for God to cast them out of Heaven into Hell (Milton 35). This did not bother Satan at first since he became the leader in Hell rather than a servant in Heaven. Satan believed that it was, Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven ( I-l. 263). Much of Satans reliance on getting things accomplished came from his ability to lie and deceive. He lied to the fallen angels about the Son and his vice-regency in Heaven in order for them to follow him instead of The Son. He also concealed his true self by hiding in the body of a serpent when presenting himself to Eve in the Garden of Eden (Blessington 32). She would not have been as easily tempted into sin had he not conc ealed his true form. In addition, Satan showed the reader a large amount of anger and destructiveness when he planned his revenge on God (Milton 62). Satan even found pleasure in the pain and destruction of other people and things, To do aught good never will be our task, / But ever to do ill our soul delight (qtd. in Blessington 32). It is clear the feelings and views of Satan represented evil. With Satan and his battle against God, he formed an allegiance of fallen angels to help him carry out his evil goals. Satan placed his chief supporter named Beelzebub in charge of the fallen angels, and getting them together to form the Demonic Council to serve as an administration for Hell (John). Milton described Beelzebub as being a Majestic, wise statesman (qtd. in Bush 265) in his leadership abilities of this council. Although Satan put Beelzebub in charge, it was not because of Beelzebubs abilities, but due to the fact Satan was able to trick his chief supporter easily into expressing his beliefs instead of Beelzebubs own. With Satans ability to deceive Beelzebub easily, he will easily mislead the Demonic Council into carrying out his evil ideas against God in Heaven. The council held a meeting in the capital of Hell called Pandemonium, where the reader is introduced to all of the fallen angels, and learned their evil ideas of revenge against God and Heaven. The first fallen a ngel that spoke at the meeting was Moloch, who was the strongest and fiercest spirit that fought in Heaven, now fiercer by despair (Milton, II-l. 44-45). He came forth with a suicidal battle philosophy (Blessington 39), promoting open war in Heaven. He was very aggressive in nature, and did not care if God destroyed the fallen angels in the battle, as long as they fought in revenge (Bush 258). The second fallen angel that spoke at the meeting was the false and hollow angel named Belial. He represented true passivity towards fighting (Blessington 40). He conceded to Gods power, realizing they would easily be defeated (John). Up next came the least erected spirit that fell from Heaven (Milton I-l. 679) named Mammon, who was characterized by greed and tangible wealth. When Mammon was in Heaven, he desired the golden floors he walked on better than desiring the wealth and virtue available from God who ruled over them (John). The reader saw this same desire in his philosophy of what the angels should do in Hell, which was to stay there and exploit its wealth rather than war in Heaven against God (Milton 67-68). The final speaker at the meeting was Beelzebub, who relayed the earlier thoughts of Satan, which were to go after the new creation of God, man, rather than take the chance of fighting in Heaven (72-73). Since these ideas were those of Satan, he quickly adjourned the meeting, and the plans to accomplish his idea were begun (74-75). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Argumentative EssayThe Son brought forth his commitment to his Father, judgment of man, to the reader in book ten of the poem. The Son judged Adam and Eve for breaking the commandment of God to not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam resigned his manhood, and makes Eve a god to him. This act of making someone else a god, instead of the true God, is a major sin in the eyes of God (Milton 272). The first curse The Son handed down upon man was the pain of childbirth. Next, he declared the ground man walks on would grow thorns and thistles. Finally, The Son announced death to man, bringing about feelings of guilt and shame (273-274). With this announcement, the gates opened to allow the characters Sin and Death into Earth, never to leave, only to prey on man (275-276). The judgement of The Son gave the reader the definition of man today, able to choose sin with a path of redemption by Jesus, or take the easy road to Hell. Throughout John Miltons epic poem Paradise Lost, the reader was able to see a contrast between what is evil and what is good. Milton first introduced the reader to sin and evil in the lead character Satan. Milton showed the reader Satans ways of deceit, jealousy, and destruction through various dreadful acts. With Satans incestuous relationship he carried on with his daughter to create the character Death, Milton exposed the reader to the true perversity brought on by sin. Next, Milton introduced the reader to the fallen angels and their evil ideas during their meeting in the capitol of Hell, Pandemonium. Such characters as Mammon with his materialistic greed, Belial with his false and hollow views, the all aggressive Moloch and his suicidal battle philosophies, and finally Beelzebub passing on the views of Satan. The contrast to these characters came from God and The Son. God, with his powers of creation, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, was able to look over his creation s with subtle control and try to guide them toward good decisions. In addition to God, the reader looked upon The Son as a symbol of divine love of God and his creations and his showing of true grace toward man. With the powerful character representation by Milton, the reader is able to see the bad in evil and sin, and the good and justification in the judgements of God and The Son. WORKS CITEDBlessington, Francis C. Paradise Lost: Ideal and Tragic Epic. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988. Bush, Douglas, ed. The Portable Milton. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. John Miltons Paradise Lost. Internet. 7 October 1998. Available http://www.mindspring.com/verax/milton.htmMilton, John. Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost and Other Poems. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1981. Words/ Pages : 2,171 / 24