Milton, Paradise Lost. Html

In Paradise Lost, John Milton tells the story of creation and of the origins of human sin and suffering in the form of a twelve-book epic poem. In the argument for book 1, Milton states that his purpose is "to justify the ways of God to men" (26).

Although Milton had conceived the religious purpose of his epic poem years earlier, he began work on it late in life after the failure in 1660 of the Puritan government of England. Milton had served the Puritan cause energetically both as a writer of religious and political tracts and as an officer in the government of Oliver Cromwell. With the Restoration of the English monarchy, Milton gave up hope in virtuous public life, so that for him public (or political) virtue became almost a contradiction in terms. In fact, one of the devices that Satan uses to seduce Eve is the righteous indignation of a public speaker, of "orator renowned / In Athens or free Rome" (bk. 9, lines 670-671). On the contrary, Milton found virtue to be in the individual conscience, in personal choice, and in the relationships between men and women. By the time he began work on his epic, Milton had also become blind.

With this background, Paradise Lost thus encompasses a variety of levels of meaning. Its subject matter is obviously religious and theological. It also incorporates responses both to personal events in Milton's life and to political events in seventeenth-century England. For many readers, the most compelling level of meaning is in the narrative of the first marriage, the first dispute about who is to blame for problems, and the primal acts of recovery and growth from such disputation. Many students discover they like Paradise Lost a great deal, but they do face a barrier in that Milton's language at first seems strange and difficult. We will look at this difficulty carefully in the selection from book 1, where Milton states his great argument.

Book 1, "This Great Argument":
Look carefully at this passage on the first 26 lines Notice that the first sentence of the passage is a long one; it does not end until line 16. Try to locate the main subject and the main verb of this long sentence.
If you looked at the sentence carefully, you probably found that the main verb is "sing" and its subject is "Heavenly Muse" (6) Milton, however, does not begin with his subject or verb but--in a manner unusual for the English language--begins with a prepositional phrase and he extends the prepositional phrase with relative pronouns (words such as "which," "who," or "whose"). The opening phrase "Of man's first disobedience," of course, is not the subject of the sentence, but it is the subject of the epic. This subject, however, is not only the disobedience but also "the fruit/ Of that forbidden tree." The relative pronoun "whose" tells which tree: the one "whose mortal taste / Brought death into the world, and all our woe / With loss of Eden." This knowledge of the disobedience and the fruit, however, cannot end the sentence, for the loss is only until/till something else (another prepositional phrase): "Till one greater Man [Christ] / Restore us, and regain the blissful seat" [ . . .]. It is of all these things that the speaker asks the Heavenly Muse to sing, so the subject of Milton's epic is so massive and urgent that it becomes embedded in the opening lengthy prepositional phrase.
Milton also makes the identity of the Heavenly Muse an important issue. Which Muse? The one "that, on the secret top/ of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire/ That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed / In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth Rose out of Chaos [. . . ]. The Muse of Mt. Sinai was the one who gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, and Mt. Oreb (or Horeb) is the place where God, from the Burning Bush, spoke to Moses, who was then a shepherd. The identity of this Muse is an important issue because it is part of Milton's scheme of using pagan forms, including the form of epic poetry, but of subordinating pagan to Christian uses. Milton, like Homer and Virgil, uses the epic form with its invocation to a muse, but Homer and Virgil, invoked the inferior classical muses who lived on Mt. Helicon, which Milton identifies in line 15 as the "Aonian mount." Milton, on the other hand, invokes the spirit of God who inspired Moses and who was always present in the universe. On the other hand, with God's help, Milton promises a greater epic poem than anything produced by pagan poets. Notice how, beginning in line 17, the speaker's tone shifts to that of simple prayer for God's help in the composition aimed to "assert Eternal Providence" --to establish that God's protection of people continues. Note also the final line "And justify the ways of God to men." In this passage, Milton moves away from long, Latinate phrases with some difficult allusions to this last simple line, where, except for "justify," every word has only one syllable and is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Here is a general outline of the poem.

Book 1: Satan and his rebel angels fall from Heaven, assemble, and begin to recover from battle.
Book 2: Satan's forces debate whether to continue to fight against God or to submit to His superior power. Satan announces that he has heard of a new world that God has created, and Satan proposes to get revenge for the defeat by spoiling this new creation. Satan's forces agree to this plan, and Satan leaves in search of the new world.
Book 3: God and the Son see Satan flying in search of the new world. They discuss the difficult problems of free will. As God is all knowing, He recognizes what Satan will do and, as God is all-powerful, He can stop Satan from harming creation. God, however, also values the free will in Adam and Eve. The Son offers to sacrifice himself, and God and the Son recognize that, with this sacrifice, Satan's malice will turn into good, for Adam and Eve and their descendents can lose innocence but recover it and also gain understanding in the process of recovery.

Satan enters Eden and spies on Adam and Eve making love, a tender erotic love that Milton says would disappear after the loss of Eden (303-317). Satan tempts Eve in a dream, but the archangel Gabriel chases Satan out of Eden so that Adam and Eve can be given warning about the intentions of their enemy.

In Book 5, the "the "affable archangel" Raphael visits Adam to give him warning of the danger that Satan presents to him and Eve. In the process of giving this warning, Raphael tells the stories of creation, the war in Heaven, and the fall of Satan. The stories continue to book 8. Our text includes the selection from book 8 in which Adam tells Raphael what he remembers of his own creation and the creation of Eve. Raphael repeats his warning and departs.

Book 9 opens with a statement of the argument (1-47). The form of this statement resembles the opening argument of the epic ("This Great Argument") as discussed above. Notice that the argument begins with two rather long, complex sentences that go on until the middle of line 12. The sentences, however, are followed with the simple exclamation "Sad task!" Even so, Milton contends that his argument is "Not less but more heroic than the wrath / Of stern Achilles on his foe pursued / Thrice fugitive about Troy wall. . ."]. The reference here to The Iliad and other pagan myths is part of Milton's effort (initiated with reference to the Heavenly Muse) to use nonChristian sources but to subordinate them in importance to Christian stories. Many readers may not accept Milton's seventeenth-century Protestant theological premises. Even so, many people may still find the argument to book 9 a compelling one: real heroes are not the great warriors of classical epics but the primal marriage partners who get through loss into growth.
Lines 48 through 99 show Satan slipping into Eden hidden in fog and looking for a place to hide from being seen by Gabriel. In lines 99 to 178, Satan's speeches give his impression of earth and of himself. He sees earth as similar to Heaven or even superior to it, as it was built by a more experienced creator. He shifts to an impression of himself by saying that he can take no pleasure in the beauty of earth, for he feels such inner torment that "only in destroying I find ease" (129) even though he recognizes that even worse pains will "redound" on him. In lines 179 to 191, Satan finds the serpent and enters it as a place to hide. Then he proceeds to spy on Adam and Eve.
Satan finds Adam and Eve having a courteous disagreement. Eve says that the gardening tasks are very pleasant but that they are behind in their work. In order to catch up, she proposes that the two of them divide their labor and work in different parts of the garden. Adam responds from lines 227 to 269. He begins with compliments and particularly praises Eve for her study of "household good." He reminds her, however, of two important points: that God has not given them strict deadlines on their gardening duties and that Raphael had warned him of a dangerous enemy. In lines 270 to 290, Eve acknowledges Adam's points but insists that she could not be seduced by fraud.
The debate continues quite gently in Adam's response (291-317) and Eve's rejoinder. In this rejoinder (322-340), Eve takes on the language of a chivalric hero (such as Milton criticized in the argument to book 9, especially in 29-38). She accepts Adam's assumption that she is the weaker of the two of them but says that their enemy would have even more dishonor if defeated by the weaker of the two of them. Adam warns her against seeking temptation just to show that she can overcome it.

Then in a compelling line, Adam tells Eve, "Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more" (372). The line is compelling in at least three ways: (1) In terms of theology, Adam's words restate the discussion on free will between God and the Son in the third book. God wants service from free choice, not blind obedience. (2) In terms of gender relationships, there is a clear hierarchy in which Eve has the kind of subordinated but free relationship to Adam that Adam has to God. (3) In terms of psychology, Milton (or Adam) seems to understand about passive aggressiveness--that people who remain in a place against their own will are not really there. As Eve departs reluctantly, she withdraws her hand from Adam's hand and assures him that the foe is unlikely to seek the weaker of them because the foe is proud and unlikely to risk such shame as defeat by her (378-384).

Milton then gives a last look at unfallen Eve. Again, continuing the subordination of pagan ideas to Christian ones, he refers to the best ideals of classical gardens and of female beauty in classical mythology as subordinate to the beauty of Eve in Eden (386-399). As Eve departs, she promises to return in time "to invite / Noontide repast" (404). In other words, she will be home in time to prepare lunch. Satan, in the guise of a serpent, sees Eve and goes after her. Notice the erotic imagery of the serpent's motions toward Eve and the playful manner in which he tries to get her attention (493-530). Because Eve often sees playful creatures, she thinks little of the serpent and his movements until he speaks (530-548).

Eve's amazement at the serpent's power of language (545-566) gives Satan the opportunity to spin out his deception. His story, of course, is that he was as ignorant as any beast until he wound himself high up a tree and found some fruit; when he ate this fruit, he gained the powers of speech and reason (567-612). As Adam and Eve had not seen all the trees in the garden, she agrees to follow the serpent to see the one that he is talking about. As she follows the serpent, Milton refers to her as "our credulous mother" (644).
The word "credulous" (gullible or disposed to believe things too readily) here merits discussion. Eve's sin was disobedience to God, not credulity; nevertheless, her credulity led her to sin. She did not know that she was speaking to Satan, not a serpent, and, as she was innocent of any falsehood, she did no know what a lie was. Her innocence thus contributed to her sin of disobedience.

Despite this innocence and credulity, Eve recognizes the tree and tells the serpent that it is forbidden to her and Adam. When Satan hears Eve, he becomes eloquent in his professed sympathy for humankind; Milton describes his manner of righteous indignation as similar to that of a political speaker (664-678); and Satan gives a ringing speech in favor of eating the fruit (679-732). Eve then reflects on the possibilities of gaining knowledge (745-778). Then "her rash hand in evil hour, / Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat [ate]" (780-781). Satan in the form of the serpent then slinks away, and Eve "Greedily [. . .] engorged without restraint" (791). She then becomes knowingly disobedient and refers to God as "our great Forbidder" (815). She speculates on the possibility that the tree will help her become "more equal" or perhaps even "superior" to Adam, but she considers that God may have seen her sin and punish her with death. She decides that she loves Adam too much to consider the possibility of his being with some newly created Eve and that she must persuade him to share the fruit with her.

Eve then returns to Adam with the fruit. He, in the meantime, had woven a garland of flowers for her. Notice her greeting to him from lines 855 to 885. If you read the passage aloud, you may recognize the intonations of a person who is rather tipsy. In any case, Milton says that as Eve spoke, "in her cheek distemper flushing glowed" (887). Adam, recognizing the consequences of the situation, simply dropped the garland of flowers "and all the faded roses shed" (893). Adam, who has not yet sinned, remains courteous to his wife. He begins, "O fairest of creation, last and best / Of all God's works [. . .] / How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost, / Defaced, deflowered, and now to death devote?" (895-901).

Adam quickly announces his intention to eat the fruit and to die with Eve, for he declares that he does not want to live without her. Using the language of chivalric romance, Eve praises his decision: "O glorious trial of exceeding love" (961). The narrator explains that while Eve had been credulous, Adam sinned "Against his better knowledge, not deceived, / But fondly overcome with female charm" (998-999). After eating the fruit Adam begins to speak in the kind of tipsy language that Eve has been using, particularly in lines 1016 to 1032. Soon they withdraw and spend themselves in carnal desire until they fall asleep.
When they wake up, Adam starts the blaming: "O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give ear / To that false worm, of whomsoever taught / To counterfeit man's voice" (1067-1069), and he later adds "Would thou hadst hearkened to my words, and stayed / With me, as I besought thee " (1134-1135). He shouts down Eve's efforts to defend herself, and book 9 ends with the statement, "Thus, they in mutual accusation spent / The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning / And of their vain contest appeared no end" (1187-1189).

In book 10, Adam laments the consequence of his fall from God's favor, and he reflects both on the unfairness and the inevitability of his passing the legacy of sin to future generations: "Ah, why should all mankind / For one man's fault thus guiltless be condemned, If guiltless? But from me what can proceed, / But all corrupt, both mind and will depraved, / Not to do only, but to will the same / With me? How can they then acquitted stand / In sight of God?" (821-828). Eve then enters and interrupts his musings. Adam greets her by saying, "Out of my sight thou serpent! that name best / Befits thee, with him leagued, thyself as false" [. . . ].
Eve, however, accepts responsibility for her actions, asks Adam not to forsake her, and promises to ask God to let her take Adam's punishment because she had been the one who had led Adam to sin (914-936). Eve's appeal to Adam starts the couple's movement toward reconciliation and recovery. Her response moves Adam to compassion, and he says that her sin had been only that she had been "Unwary" first of the serpent, and now she was unwary of the punishment. Adam then says "But rise; let us no more contend, nor blame / Each other, blamed enough elsewhere" [. . .] (958-969).

In Book 11, the Archangel Michael gives Adam a vision of future human history and the promise of redemption through the sacrifice of the Son. Recognizing the possibility of recovering innocence and understanding it, Adam refers to the fall as "Felix Culpa" or "Fortunate Fall."

This brief passage from book 12 relates the exit of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. They see the "brandished sword of God" that "blazed fierce as a comet" and would prevent their reentry to Eden (632-33). They proceed to the "subjected plain" (640). "Subjected," as the Norton footnote on p. 2256 indicates, means "lying below," but it may also suggest "conquered--that this plain is a world that Adam and Eve and their descendents will conquer. As the angel leads the first parents away, they look back. Although they drop some "natural tears," they wipe them soon and move on. The two of them "hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, / Through Eden took their solitary way (648-649). The poem thus concludes as do many movies, with the hero and heroine walking off toward the sunset in hope of building a new life.

As I said at the outset of this lesson, there are various ways to relate to this poem with its theological, political, and personal levels of meaning. I have tried to explicate the events in the text in a way that is helpful to you but which leaves the levels of meaning accessible to your own responses. For me, the poem makes sense as a statement about marriage and personal growth—that mistakes are made, that credulous innocence is something to grow out of, that even though the growth can be painful, people can find ways to grow and to avoid blaming others. Most of the theological and political arguments have less interest for me. Still, when I hear a political speaker express zeal and righteous indignation, I usually compare the speech with the righteous speeches of Satan in book 9.

1. What is the "Great Argument" for the entire poem? Who does the speaker identify as his audience?

2. The first sentence of Paradise Lost begins with a prepositional phrase, and word order departs from standard English usage in places. Review some of these changes and identify their effects.

3. Comment on the Muse that the poet addresses in the opening lines of the poem. How does the speaker say this Muse will make Paradise Lost different from previous epics?

4. Based on evidence from book 4, explain how Milton viewed the sexual relationship between Adam and Eve before they had committed the sin of disobedience.

5. What does the speaker say about "heroic" materials in the opening argument to Book 9 (13-47)?

6. Considering our reading of Homer's Iliad and the handout on the epic, evaluate Paradise Lost as a representative of epic form.

7. What disagreement do Adam and Eve have early in Book 9? How is the disagreement resolved? What does the resolution imply about their relationship?

8. Describe the way Satan deceives Eve. Consider both his physical movements (e.g. 495-527) and his speeches (532-732). What do the passages on speech suggest about the reliability of public discourse?

9. What does the phrase "credulous mother" (9, 644) suggest about Eve?

10. What happened to the garland of roses?

11. What was Adam's motive for disobeying God?

12. What are the connotations of Eve's reference to a "glorious trial of exceeding love"?

13. In Book 10, Adam calls Eve a serpent and blames his loss on her. Do Adam's bitter speeches beginning on line 865 reflect the view of the poem?

14. How does Eve respond to Adam's accusations against her? What effect does her response have on Adam?

16. Considering the relationship of Adam and Eve in the sections we have read, comment on the view of relationships between men and women that you find expressed in the poem. To what extent do you find this viewpoint a valid one?

17. Comment on the role of the archangels in the poem: Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael.

18. What view of free will is found in the poem?

19. Explain the concept of the "fortunate fall" in terms of Milton's argument.

20. What are the functions of allusions to pagan and Christian literature in Milton's poem? In what way do these functions connect to the major themes expressed in the opening argument?