Paradise Lost
John Milton
The Paradise lost is an epic by a John Milton a 17th– century poet; it was first published in 1667. the poem consists of 10 books and over 10,000 lines of verse. Paradise Lost is one of the major works of John Milton. The poem talks about the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, Fall of Man, the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan a cast out angel and also their exclusion from the Garden of Eve. Milton purpose was to justify the “ways of God to man” as mentioned in the book as well.
Milton went completely blind in 1652; he completed his epic through dictating and with the help of friends. This epic is unique in a way from Greek epic tradition because it does not talk about legends of heroic kings yet it talks about the origin of mankind and Christian tradition, Son of God Jesus Christ who came to restore the dignity of Man; it also talks about the civil war between Satan and God.
The story begins when Satan (Lucifer) and his rebellion fellows who have been cast out of heaven and banished to hell. Satan uses his rhetorical skills to manipulate his followers. Through his speeches, he volunteers to corrupt the newly created Earth and God’s most favorite creation Human. It keeps on getting interesting when Satan manages to tempt Eve, and both Adam and Eve end up on Earth.
Hence, the main themes of the story are related to religious ideas. There can be three major themes; 1) disobedience 2) Justification of god to men 3) Eternal providence or fate. The discussions of epic frequently center on these three themes.
Disobedience:
First words of Paradise Lost talks about the main theme Disobedience of Adam and Eve. As Raphael already has told Adam about the rebellion of Satan; he warns Adam from an upcoming threat. Paradise lost has presented two main paths one is degradation and revolt taken by Satan while other is redemption represented by Eve and Adam. It is the essence of the epic that one can follow these two paths after disobedience and it clearly states as God is omnipotent and omniscient so disobedience of God is not acceptable at any cost.
Moreover, the hierarchal structure of Heaven, Earth and Hell presented by Milton clarifies the Grace of God; as Heaven at the top, earth in the middle and hell at the bottom. God sits on his throne, Angels in groups according to their role and position, Adam superior to Eve and ruling over animals while Satan is sitting on his throne in hell above and higher than other demons.
God being the all-powerful and superior places only one prohibition on Adam and Eve in Garden of Eden; that is “not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge”. Prohibition is not the matter of one fruit or one tree but the order of God. Inferiors must obey superiors and this is the proper way of running a universe, so in Paradise lost it was must obey God. By eating the fruit of knowledge both Adam and Eve brought calamity to their lives. This not only brought catastrophe to them but to all mankind.
Hence, The importance of obedience is not the matter of fact only for Adam and Eve but it is the main subject of the Paradise lost throughout the whole epic. The rebellion of Lucifer and his demons because of the jealousy of mankind is the first act of disobedience and starts all that happens in the poem.
So, Milton is trying to point out that disobedience in a hierarchal order such as from Superior to inferior disrupts the Universe and results in a disaster as in Paradise lost.
Eternal Providence:
However, Milton’s theme in Paradise lost does not only talk about disobedience but the eternal fate of mankind as well as for Satan; because he has ended up in hell and trapped there for eternity. Milton tries to state that if Adam had never violated the rules and he had never disobeyed God, man would be eternal now. Death would never have entered the world and man would have been a lesser angel. Adam and eve fell for temptation and disobeyed God; it had brought greater good for humanity because it gave God an option to show his mercy, and his great. Ultimately their fall from Eden becomes a good reason for God to show his greatness. This is Felix culpa an argument which means a happy fault.
So, in a sense, God wanted to show the rebellion angel that he will not be missed and he created someone with free will. That means God being omniscient he knew that man will fall for Satan’s temptation but he did nothing. It does not mean that God was a part of it or he caused it. He simply knew that man will fall for the tricks.
Justification of Ways of God:
Eternal providence moved the story towards a different level. Death came into the world and the “Son of God Christ” sacrificed himself to defeat death; through him, God became able to temper the divine justice with grace, mercy and salvation. Without the disobedience and fall from heaven would never have triggered the divine love of God for all mankind. All mankind can achieve salvation by obeying God and can also achieve God’s, Divine love.
Therefore, the idea of divine love is the final point of the themes of Paradise lost. Death gives a chance to achieve salvation even though all mankind is sinful because of Adam and Eve. As Adam states “O goodness infinite, goodness immense! / That all this good of evil shall produce, / And evil turn to good” (XII, 469-471).
Thus fall of Man turns the Evil into good and the fact justifies the ways of God.
Hence, Paradise Lost is a great epic with a wonderful explanation of the origin of mankind. Milton has wonderfully mastered the art of language in his epic. It talks about the great idea of salvation through obedience and redemption. It shows how the rebel angels had banished to hell and they have to live there for eternity; which proves that only God is all-powerful and he must be obeyed.