Paradise Lost

~John Milton
Introduction
John Milton was a renowned English poet,historian and intellectual well known for his epic
poem Paradise Lost.Born on December 9, 1608,in Bread Street,London.His epic poem
Paradise Lost, considered most lasting work of poetry,and other more political writing such as
Areopagitica,his most celebrated work of prose.When English Civil War broke out in 1642,he
supported Oliver CromwellMilton’s life was marked by his strong convictions and passion.He
was a staunch supporter of the Puritan cause and the Commonwealth and wrote several tracts
and pamphlets defending this position.
Paradise Lost, epic poem in blank verse, one of the late works by John Milton, originally issued
in 10 books in 1667 and, with Books 7 and 10 each split into two parts, published in 12 books in
the second edition of 1674.Many scholars consider Paradise Lost to be one of the greatest
poems in the English language. It tells the biblical story of the fall from grace of Adam and Eve
(and, by extension, all humanity) in language that is a supreme achievement of rhythm and
sound. The 12-book structure, the technique of beginning in medias res (in the middle of the
story), the invocation of the muse, and the use of the epic question are all classically inspired.
The subject matter, however, is distinctly Christian.The main characters in the poem are God,
Lucifer (Satan), Adam, and Eve. Much has been written about Milton’s powerful and
sympathetic characterization of Satan. The Romantic poets William Blake and Percy Bysshe
Shelley saw Satan as the real hero of the poem and applauded his rebellion against the tyranny
of Heaven.
At the heart of Paradise Lost are the themes of free will and the moral consequences of
disobedience. Milton seeks to “justify the ways of God to men,” addressing questions of
predestination, human agency, and the nature of good and evil. The poem begins in medias
res, with Satan and his fallen angels cast into Hell after their failed rebellion against God.
Milton’s Satan, portrayed with both grandeur and tragic ambition, is one of the most complex
and debated characters in literary history, particularly for his perceived heroism by some
readers.
The poem’s portrayal of Adam and Eve emphasizes their humanity, exploring their innocence
before the Fall of Man and their subsequent awareness of sin. Through their story, Milton
reflects on the complexities of human relationships, the tension between individual freedom
and obedience to divine law, and the possibility of redemption. Despite their transgression, the
poem ends on a note of hope, as Adam and Eve leave Paradise with the promise of salvation
through Christ.
Milton’s epic has been praised for its linguistic richness, theological depth, and philosophical
ambition. However, it has also sparked controversy, particularly for its portrayal of Satan, who
some readers interpret as a heroic or sympathetic figure. Paradise Lost continues to inspire
scholars, writers, and artists, remaining a cornerstone of literary and theological discourse
Themes

The Importance of Obedience to God :-

The first words of Paradise Lost state that the poem’s main theme will be “Man’s first
Disobedience.” Milton narrates the story of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, explains how and
why it happens, and places the story within the larger context of Satan’s rebellion and Jesus’
resurrection. Raphael tells Adam about Satan’s disobedience in an effort to give him a firm
grasp of the threat that Satan and humankind’s disobedience poses. In essence, Paradise Lost
presents two moral paths that one can take after disobedience: the downward spiral of
increasing sin and degradation, represented by Satan, and the road to redemption,
represented by Adam and Eve.
While Adam and Eve are the first humans to disobey God, Satan is the first of all God’s creation
to disobey. His decision to rebel comes only from himself—he was not persuaded or provoked
by others. Also, his decision to continue to disobey God after his fall into Hell ensures that God
will not forgive him. Adam and Eve, on the other hand, decide to repent for their sins and seek
forgiveness. Unlike Satan, Adam and Eve understand that their disobedience to God will be
corrected through generations of toil on Earth. This path is obviously the correct one to take:
the visions in Books XI and XII demonstrate that obedience to God, even after repeated falls,
can lead to humankind’s salvation.
The Hierarchical Nature of the Universe :-
Paradise Lost is about hierarchy as much as it is about obedience. The layout of the universe—with Heaven above, Hell below,
and Earth in the middle—presents the universe as a hierarchy based on proximity to God and his grace. This spatial hierarchy
leads to a social hierarchy of angels, humans, animals, and devils: the Son is closest to God, with the archangels and cherubs
behind him. Adam and Eve and Earth’s animals come next, with Satan and the other fallen angels following last. To obey God is
to respect this hierarchy.
Satan refuses to honor the Son as his superior, thereby questioning God’s hierarchy. As the angels in Satan’s camp rebel, they
hope to beat God and thereby dissolve what they believe to be an unfair hierarchy in Heaven. When the Son and the good
angels defeat the rebel angels, the rebels are punished by being banished far away from Heaven. At least, Satan argues later,
they can make their own hierarchy in Hell, but they are nevertheless subject to God’s overall hierarchy, in which they are ranked
the lowest. Satan continues to disobey God and his hierarchy as he seeks to corrupt mankind.
Likewise, humankind’s disobedience is a corruption of God’s hierarchy. Before the fall, Adam and Eve treat the visiting angels
with proper respect and acknowledgement of their closeness to God, and Eve embraces the subservient role allotted to her in
her marriage. God and Raphael both instruct Adam that Eve is slightly farther removed from God’s grace than Adam because
she was created to serve both God and him. When Eve persuades Adam to let her work alone, she challenges him, her superior,
and he yields to her, his inferior. Again, as Adam eats from the fruit, he knowingly defies God by obeying Eve and his inner
instinct instead of God and his reason. Adam’s visions in Books XI and XII show more examples of this disobedience to God and
the universe’s hierarchy, but also demonstrate that with the Son’s sacrifice, this hierarchy will be restored once again.
The Fall as Partly Fortunate:-
After he sees the vision of Christ’s redemption of humankind in Book XII, Adam
refers to his own sin as a felix culpa or “happy fault,” suggesting that the fall of
humankind, while originally seeming an unmitigated catastrophe, does in fact
bring good with it. Adam and Eve’s disobedience allows God to show his mercy
and temperance in their punishments and his eternal providence toward
humankind. This display of love and compassion, given through the Son, is a
gift to humankind. Humankind must now experience pain and death, but
humans can also experience mercy, salvation, and grace in ways they would
not have been able to had they not disobeyed. While humankind has fallen
from grace, individuals can redeem and save themselves through continued
devotion and obedience to God. The salvation of humankind, in the form of The
Son’s sacrifice and resurrection, can begin to restore humankind to its former
state. In other words, good will come of sin and death, and humankind will
eventually be rewarded. This fortunate result justifies God’s reasoning and
explains his ultimate plan for humankind.
Analysis
The poem opens with the lines:
“Of Man’s First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste Brought Death into
the World, and all our woe.”
And in doing so it briefs the reader about the whole plot of the epic tale it is about to relate. The ‘first
disobedience’ comes about when the devil, in the form of a serpent, tempts Eve to take and eat some fruit
from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve then tells Adam what she has done and he too tastes the forbidden fruit.
This episode is so well-known that the phrase ‘forbidden fruit’ is widely used in society to refer to
something tempting which is often morally dubious. Many people assume that that fruit was an apple,
and like other writers before him, Milton calls the ‘fatal fruit’ in Book 9 an apple, but the Bible itself doesn’t
name the type of fruit.
A key aspect of Paradise Lost is that Milton does not portray the couple’s decision to eat the fruit as
inevitable. Instead, it shows that the couple exercised their free will. While Eve was seduced by the
serpent, she still chose to eat the fruit, as did Adam in turn. The couple had the power to rule over
everything on Earth with the only caveat that this particular fruit was out of bounds, and God expected
this rule to be kept on trust as a sign of their obedience to Him. This is key because, as the poem states,
Milton wanted to use the events to demonstrate the ‘ways of God’ to people. The poem illustrates how He
considered Adam and Eve to have within themselves the capacity to withstand temptation, but that they
chose not to. This decision is known as ‘the fall’ because it is the moment when the couple – and all their
descendants – fell from God’s grace.
As well as telling the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall, the poem also narrates the story of
Satan. Also known as Lucifer, Satan was a fallen angel who was banished to Hell. After his
expulsion, the devil famously claims that ‘it is better to reign in hell than to serve in Heaven’.
Milton coined the name Pandemonium for the capital of Hell. Satan’s motivation to lead Adam
and Eve into sin is part of his scheme to extract revenge on God for his banishment.

While living in innocence in Eden, Adam and Eve had the pleasurable task of tending the
garden – the reason the clown in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet comments that,‘There is
no ancient gentleman but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers: they hold up Adam’s
profession’ (5.1). After the Fall, however, the son of God is sent to Earth to mete out
punishments. Adam is told that henceforth he will have to toil in backbreaking labour on the
land to grow food. Eve’s punishments include that she will ‘bring forth in sorrow’ or experience
pain in childbirth. The ultimate consequence of the Fall is that it brings death to Earth. Book 10
ends with Adam and Eve prostrate on the ground, their tears watering the earth as, full of
remorse, they beg for forgiveness. This is the moment in the poem when the couple show that
they have learnt from their actions and want to make amends.
Conclusion
The poem’s portrayal of Adam and Eve emphasizes their humanity,
exploring their innocence before the Fall of Man and their subsequent
awareness of sin. Through their story, Milton reflects on the complexities
of human relationships, the tension between individual freedom and
obedience to divine law, and the possibility of redemption. Despite their
transgression, the poem ends on a note of hope, as Adam and Eve leave
Paradise with the promise of salvation through Christ.
Milton’s epic has been praised for its linguistic richness, theological
depth, and philosophical ambition. However, it has also sparked
controversy, particularly for its portrayal of Satan, who some readers
interpret as a heroic or sympathetic figure. Paradise Lost continues to
inspire scholars, writers, and artists, remaining a cornerstone of literary
and theological discourse.