Paradise Lost Analysis - 1331 Words

English poet John Milton’s seventeenth century epic work Paradise Lost is a retelling of the Genesis creation story from the Bible. It recounts the familiar story of the fall of man, but veers from the source material significantly. Paradise Lost features the perspectives of various characters on the events of Genesis, but if a protagonist of the tale were to be named, it would have to be Satan. This is an inversion of his role in the Bible, in which a serpentine form of the devil tempts Eve to disobey God, subsequently causing the first humans to be expelled from the blissful Garden of Eden into the suffering and toil of the real world. Satan is not so much a character in the original story so much as a living representation of of†¦show more content†¦But by no means should Satan be interpreted as a simple and moral traditional hero in Paradise Lost. A large component of his allure is his complexity, which Milton does not hesitate to delve into. Satan experiences ver y human feelings such as pride, self-loathing, envy, regret, ambition, and uncertainty. No other character in Paradise Lost expresses such a vast range of emotions, and consequently no other character is nearly as dynamic or compelling. Eve is a stereotype, Adam a dullard, and even God is static in his peerlessness. When Satan rues, â€Å"I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere; Till pride and worse ambition threw me down/ Warring in heaven against heaven’s matchless king† (Milton 85), readers find him worthy of compassion, and even relatable. Then within the very same passage, they find themselves cursing his actions when he plots, â€Å"Honor and empire with revenge enlarged,/ By conquering this new world, compels me now/ To do what else though damned I should abhor† (Milton 96). Milton refuses to water down Satan’s indisputably villainous actions. Yet at the same time he provides an empathetic platform for the devil to explain his reasonings and rum inations. By doing so, Milton truly does ponder â€Å"how awful goodness is†, as he says on page 109. Reviewing Milton’s biography helps shed light on his motivations to write Paradise Lost. He was born in England, 1608, to a family of means. His family had a history of divisive religious beliefs. Milton’s fatherShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis Of Paradise Lost1224 Words   |  5 Pages In the epic poem Paradise Lost, author John Milton explores the familiar topics of Heaven and Hell, good and evil, God and Satan; but from a new and [for some] disturbing angle. Overflowing with an abundance of metaphors, extended similes, and countless other literary elements, combined with a rather understanding—and at times, compassionate—tone, Milton challenges society’s comfortable position surrounding the terrible figure of Satan. He treads ever so warily among this topic, but neverthelessRead MoreFeminist Analysis Of Paradise Lost By John Milton112 4 Words   |  5 PagesAkejah McLaughlin Professor Jennifer Rohrer-Walsh HON 2010 7 November 2017 Feminist Analysis of Paradise Lost The Book of Genesis is an introductive biblical passage in the Old Testament that summarizes the creation of the universe, humanity, and the downfall of man. Writer John Milton gives an alternate version of this phenomenon in his epic Paradise Lost that illustrates not only the consequences of disobedience from God, but the distinct gender differences between men and women. Through theRead MoreAnalysis Of John Milton s Paradise Lost 1852 Words   |  8 Pagesliterary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot. (2010 AP Literature and Composition) Disobedience and Exile an Analysis of Satan from 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 suffersRead MoreAnalysis Of John Milton s Paradise Lost Essay2201 Words   |  9 PagesEve’s story arc in Paradise Lost, by John Milton, is a bildungsroman, the German word for a â€Å"novel of education.† Eve develops through the five stages of a typical bildungsroman character, as demonstrated by several different works from the genre. It will be useful to discuss several different bildungsromans from different eras and regions to fully determine the necessary characteristics of a bildungsroman, like The Odyssey, To Kill a Mockingbird, David Copperfield, Adventures of Huckleberry FinnRead More Analysis of Satans Speech in i n John Miltons Paradise Lost1010 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of Satans Speech in Miltons Paradise Lost      Ã‚  Ã‚   John Miltons Paradise Lost is a work of enduring charm and value because of its theological conceptions, its beautiful language, and its updating of the epic to the modern worlds values. Book II of this epic poem opens with Satans speech to his minions in hell, proposing war on Heaven itself. In these first 44 lines, Satan is clearly established as epic hero, but at the same time is theologically/morally denounced by theRead MoreAnalysis Of John s Milton s Paradise Lost 1636 Words   |  7 Pages This is but one example of Satan’s sympathy toward humanity in Paradise Lost, John’s Milton’s epic poem that details Satan’s involvement in tempting Adam and Eve to rebel against God, and thus be punished with expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In both Christian and Jewish doctrines, Satan is often painted as a malevolent, treacherous being. Further, many readers often view Satan’s decision to tempt Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost as on e that comes from a place of cruelty rather than concern. InRead MoreAnalysis Of John Milton s Paradise Lost 1606 Words   |  7 PagesIn books one, two, four and nine of Paradise Lost, Milton portrays Satan as heroic, introducing freedom and reason to the minds and lives of humanity. Satan allows his subservient fallen angels, as well as Adam and eve to recognize authority, reason and the true meaning of freedom. The beginning of the story is told through Satan’s point of view, making him the first empathetic character the reader is introduced to. From the very beginning of Book One, Satan explains how him and other fellow angelsRead MoreAnalysis Of John Orwell s Paradise Lost 882 Words   |  4 Pagesrecognize multiple examples of conventions in different texts. While each text may not have the same message, they all utilize epic conventions to help communicate a specific message or lesson. In Paradise Lost, Milton effectively uses the conventions of epics to justify the ways of God to humanity. Paradise Lost includes most if not all of the conventions of epics, however several conventions in particular are the ones that best communicate Milton s message. The first convention is a legendary hero whoRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Adam And Eve In Paradise Lost1567 Words   |  7 PagesOne of Milton’s most compelling interpretations in Paradise Lost and it’s the story o f the creation involve its very first embodiments of mankind, Adam and Eve. The poem’s first depiction of Adam and Eve in their unfallen paradise accentuates their nobility, dignity and perfection, their unfallen aristocratic posture as they rule over the sacred garden of Eden. In this state of innocence, Adam and Eve discover themselves and eventually one another, allowing them to explore and interpret their ownRead MoreAnalysis Of John Milton s Paradise Lost1442 Words   |  6 Pages(Name) (Instructor) (Course) (Date) Heroism in John Milton’s Paradise Lost There are many definitions of a hero, and establishing the hero in John Milton’s Paradise Lost has been object to scholarly debate. One definition of a hero is that by Aristotle, who defined a hero as a person who is divine and superhuman. However, other definitions encompass the aspect of virtue in heroism. Despite all the definitions for a hero, it remains factual that a hero would be someone that the readers would delight