Paradise Lost | Epic Poetry Paradise Lost Home Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608-1674). The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men". Synopsis The poem is separated into twelve "books" or sections, the lengths of which vary greatly (the longest is Book IX, with 1,189 lines, and the shortest Book VII, with 640). The Arguments at the head of each book were added in subsequent imprints of the first edition.

Originally published in ten books, a fully "Revised and Augmented" edition reorganized into twelve books was issued in 1674, and this is the edition generally used today. The poem follows the epic tradition of starting in medias res (Latin for in the midst of things), the background story being recounted later. Milton's story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan (Lucifer) and the other following Adam and Eve. It begins after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and banished to Hell, or, as it is also called in the poem, Tartarus. In Pandæmonium, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organise his followers; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub. Belial and Moloch are also present. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers to poison the newly created Earth and God's new and most favoured creation, Mankind. He braves the dangers of the Abyss alone in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus or Aeneas. After an arduous traversal of the Chaos outside Hell, he enters God's new material World, and later the Garden of Eden.

At several points in the poem, an Angelic War over Heaven is recounted from different perspectives. Satan's rebellion follows the epic convention of large-scale warfare. The battles between the faithful angels and Satan's forces take place over three days. At the final battle, the Son of God single-handedly defeats the entire legion of angelic rebels and banishes them from Heaven. Following this purge, God creates the World, culminating in his creation of Adam and Eve. While God gave Adam and Eve total freedom and power to rule over all creation, he gave them one explicit command: not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil on penalty of death. The story of Adam and Eve's temptation and fall is a fundamentally different, new kind of epic: a domestic one. Adam and Eve are presented for the first time in Christian literature as having a full relationship while still being without sin. They have passions and distinct personalities. Satan, disguised in the form of a serpent, successfully tempts Eve to eat from the Tree by preying on her vanity and tricking her with rhetoric. Adam, learning that Eve has sinned, knowingly commits the same sin.

He declares to Eve that since she was made from his flesh, they are bound to one another ‒ if she dies, he must also die. In this manner, Milton portrays Adam as a heroic figure, but also as a greater sinner than Eve, as he is aware that what he is doing is wrong. After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve have lustful sex. At first, Adam is convinced that Eve was right in thinking that eating the fruit would be beneficial. However, they soon fall asleep and have terrible nightmares, and after they awake, they experience guilt and shame for the first time. Realizing that they have committed a terrible act against God, they engage in mutual recrimination. Eve's pleas to Adam reconcile them somewhat. Her encouragement enables Adam and Eve both to approach God, to "bow and sue for grace with suppliant knee", and to receive grace from God. In a vision shown to him by the angel Michael, Adam witnesses everything that will happen to mankind until the Great Flood. Adam is very upset by this vision of the future, so Michael also tells him about humankind's potential redemption from original sin through Jesus Christ (whom Michael calls "King Messiah").

Adam and Eve are cast out of Eden, and Michael says that Adam may find "a paradise within thee, happier far". Adam and Eve also now have a more distant relationship with God, who is omnipresent but invisible (unlike the tangible Father in the Garden of Eden). Characters Satan Satan is the first major character introduced in the poem. Formerly called Lucifer, he was the most beautiful of all angels in Heaven, and is a tragic figure who describes himself with the now-famous quote "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." He is introduced to Hell after he leads a failed rebellion to wrest control of Heaven from God. Satan's desire to rebel against his creator stems from his unwillingness to be subjugated by God and his Son, claiming that angels are "self-begot, self-raised", and thereby denying God's authority over them as their creator. Satan is deeply arrogant, albeit powerful and charismatic. Satan's persuasive powers are evident throughout the book; not only is he cunning and deceptive, but he is also able to rally the angels to continue in the rebellion after their agonising defeat in the Angelic War. He argues that God rules as a tyrant and that all the angels ought to rule as gods.

Satan is comparable in many ways to the tragic heroes of classic Greek literature, but Satan's hubris far surpasses those of previous tragedies. Though at times he plays the narrative role of an anti-hero, he is still commonly understood to be the antagonist of the epic. However, the true nature of his role in the poem has been the subject of much notoriety and scholarly debate. While some scholars, like the critic and writer C. S. Lewis, interpret the poem as a genuine Christian morality tale, other critics, like William Empson, view it as a more ambiguous work, with Milton's complex characterisation of Satan playing a large part in that perceived ambiguity. Adam Adam is the first human created by God. Though initially alone, Adam demands a mate from God. Considered God's prized creation, Adam, along with his wife, rules over all the creatures of the world and resides in the Garden of Eden. He is more gregarious than Eve, and yearns for her company. His complete infatuation with Eve, while pure in and of itself, eventually contributes to his joining her in disobedience to God.

Unlike the Biblical Adam, before he leaves Paradise this version of Adam is given a glimpse of the future of mankind (including a synopsis of stories from the Old and New Testaments) by the angel Michael. Eve Eve is the second human created by God, taken from one of Adam's ribs and shaped into a female form of Adam. Far from the traditional model of a good wife, she is often unwilling to be submissive towards Adam. She is more intelligent and curious about external ideas than her husband. Though happy, she longs for knowledge and, more specifically, self-knowledge. Her first act in existence is to turn away from Adam and look at and ponder her own reflection. Eve is extremely beautiful and thoroughly in love with Adam, though may feel suffocated by his constant presence. One day, she convinces Adam that it would be good for them to split up and work different parts of the Garden. In her solitude, she is tempted by Satan to sin against God. Adam shortly follows along with her. The Son of God The Son of God is the spirit that will become Jesus Christ, though he is never named explicitly, since he has not yet entered human form.

The Son of God shares total union with God, and indeed is understood to be a person of the Godhead, along with the Father and the Spirit. He is the ultimate hero of the epic and is infinitely powerful, singlehandedly defeating Satan and his followers and driving them into Hell. The Son of God tells Adam and Eve about God's judgment after their sin. However, he sacrificially volunteers to eventually journey to the World, become a man himself, and redeem the Fall of Man through his own death and resurrection. In the final scene, a vision of Salvation through the Son of God is revealed to Adam by Michael. Still, the name, Jesus of Nazareth, and the details of Jesus' story are not depicted in the poem. God the Father God the Father is the creator of Heaven, Hell, the World, and of everyone and everything there is. He desires glory and praise from all his creations. He is an all-powerful, all-knowing, infinitely good being who cannot be overthrown by even the great army of angels Satan incites against him. The stated purpose of the poem is to justify the ways of God to men, so God often converses with the Son of God concerning his plans and reveals his motives regarding his actions.

The poem portrays God's process of creation in the way that Milton believed it was done, with God creating Heaven, Earth, Hell, and all the creatures that inhabit these separate planes from part of Himself, not out of nothing. Thus, according to Milton, the ultimate authority of God derives from his being the "author" of creation. Satan tries to justify his rebellion by denying this aspect of God and claiming self-creation, but he admits to himself this is not the case, and that God "deserved no such return/ From me, whom He created what I was." Raphael Raphael is an archangel whom God sends to warn Adam about Satan's infiltration of Eden and to warn him that Satan is going to try to curse Adam and Eve. He also has a lengthy discussion with the curious Adam regarding creation and events which transpired in Heaven. Michael Michael is a mighty archangel who fought for God in the Angelic War. In the first battle, he wounds Satan terribly with a powerful sword that God designed to even cut through the substance of angels. After Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, God sends the angel Michael to visit Adam and Eve. His duty is to escort Adam and Eve out of Paradise.

Before he does this, Michael shows Adam visions of the future which cover an outline of the Bible, from the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis, up through the story of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Composition In his introduction to the Penguin edition of Paradise Lost, the Milton scholar John Leonard notes, "John Milton was nearly sixty when he published Paradise Lost in 1667. [The writer] John Aubrey (1626-97) tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. But parts were almost certainly written earlier, and its roots lie in Milton's earliest youth." Leonard speculates that the English Civil War interrupted Milton's earliest attempts to start his "epic [poem] that would encompass all space and time." Leonard also notes that Milton "did not at first plan to write a biblical epic." Since epics were typically written about heroic kings and queens (and with pagan gods), Milton originally envisioned his epic to be based on a legendary Saxon or British king like the legend of King Arthur. Having gone totally blind in 1652, Milton wrote Paradise Lost entirely through dictation with the help of amanuenses and friends.

He also wrote the epic poem while he was often ill, suffering from gout, and despite the fact that he was suffering emotionally after the early death of his second wife, Katherine Woodcock, in 1658, and the death of their infant daughter (though Milton remarried soon after in 1663). Themes Marriage Milton first presents Adam and Eve in Book IV with impartiality. The relationship between Adam and Eve is one of "mutual dependence, not a relation of domination or hierarchy." While the author does place Adam above Eve in regard to his intellectual knowledge, and in turn his relation to God, he also grants Eve the benefit of knowledge through experience. Hermine Van Nuis clarifies that although there is a sense of stringency associated with the specified roles of the male and the female, each unreservedly accepts the designated role because it is viewed as an asset. Instead of believing that these roles are forced upon them, each uses the obligatory requirement as a strength in their relationship with each other. These minor discrepancies reveal the author's view on the importance of mutuality between a husband and a wife.

When examining the relationship between Adam and Eve, critics tend to accept an either Adam- or Eve-centered view in terms of hierarchy and importance to God. David Mikics argues, by contrast, these positions "overstate the independence of the characters' stances, and therefore miss the way in which Adam and Eve are entwined with each other". Milton's true vision reflects one where the husband and wife (in this instance, Adam and Eve) depend on each other and only through each other's differences are able to thrive. Although Milton does not directly mention divorce, critics posit theories on Milton's view of divorce based on inferences found within the poem, and, of course, the tracts on divorce Milton wrote earlier in his life. Other works by Milton suggest he viewed marriage as an entity separate from the church. Discussing Paradise Lost, Biberman entertains the idea that "marriage is a contract made by both the man and the woman". Based on this inference, Milton would believe that both man and woman would have equal access to divorce, as they do to marriage. Feminist critics of Paradise Lost suggest that Eve is forbidden the knowledge of her own identity.

Moments after her creation, before Eve is led to Adam, she becomes enraptured by an image reflected in the water (her own, unbeknownst to Eve). God urges Eve to look away from her own image, her beauty, which is also the object of Adam's desire. Adam delights in both her beauty and submissive charms, yet Eve may never be permitted to gaze upon her individual form. Critic Julia M. Walker argues that because Eve "neither recognises nor names herself... she can know herself only in relation to Adam." "Eve's sense of self becomes important in its absence... [she] is never allowed to know what she is supposed to see." Eve therefore knows not what she is, only what she is not: male. Starting in Book IV, Eve learns that Adam, the male form, is superior and "How beauty is excelled by manly grace/ And wisdom which alone is truly fair." Led by his gentle hand, she yields, a woman without individual purpose, destined to fall by "free will." Idolatry Milton's 17th century contemporaries by and large criticised Milton's ideas and considered him as a radical, mostly because of his well-known Protestant views on politics and religion.

One of Milton's greatest and most controversial arguments centres on his concept of what is idolatrous; this topic is deeply embedded in Paradise Lost. Milton's first criticism of idolatry focuses on the practice of constructing temples and other buildings to serve as places of worship. In Book XI of Paradise Lost, Adam tries to atone for his sins by offering to build altars to worship God. In response, the angel Michael explains that Adam does not need to build physical objects to experience the presence of God. Joseph Lyle points to this example, explaining "When Milton objects to architecture, it is not a quality inherent in buildings themselves he finds offensive, but rather their tendency to act as convenient loci to which idolatry, over time, will inevitably adhere." Even if the idea is pure in nature, Milton still believes that it will unavoidably lead to idolatry simply because of the nature of humans. Instead of placing their thoughts and beliefs into God, as they should, humans tend to turn to erected objects and falsely invest their faith. While Adam attempts to build an altar to God, critics note Eve is similarly guilty of idolatry, but in a different manner. Harding believes Eve's narcissism and obsession with herself constitutes idolatry.

Specifically, Harding claims that "... under the serpent's influence, Eve's idolatry and self-deification foreshadow the errors into which her 'Sons' will stray." Much like Adam, Eve falsely places her faith into herself, the Tree of Knowledge, and to some extent, the Serpent, all of which do not compare to the ideal nature of God. Furthermore, Milton makes his views on idolatry more explicit with the creation of Pandemonium and the exemplary allusion to Solomon's temple. In the beginning of Paradise Lost, as well as throughout the poem, there are several references to the rise and eventual fall of Solomon's temple. Critics elucidate that "Solomon's temple provides an explicit demonstration of how an artefact moves from its genesis in devotional practice to an idolatrous end." This example, out of the many presented, conveys Milton's views on the dangers of idolatry distinctly. Even if one builds a structure in the name of God, even the best of intentions can become immoral. In addition, critics have drawn parallels between both Pandemonium and Saint Peter's Basilica, and the Pantheon.

The majority of these similarities revolve around a structural likeness, but as Lyle explains, they play a greater role. By linking Saint Peter's Basilica and the Pantheon to Pandemonium-an ideally false structure, the two famous buildings take on a false meaning. This comparison best represents Milton's Protestant views, as it rejects both the purely Catholic perspective and the Pagan perspective. In addition to rejecting Catholicism, Milton revolted against the idea of a monarch ruling by divine right. He saw the practice as idolatrous. Barbara Lewalski concludes that the theme of idolatry in Paradise Lost "is an exaggerated version of the idolatry Milton had long associated with the Stuart ideology of divine kingship". In the opinion of Milton, any object, human or non-human, that receives special attention befitting of God, is considered idolatrous.

Interpretation and criticism The writer and critic Samuel Johnson wrote that Paradise Lost shows off "[Milton's] peculiar power to astonish" and that "[Milton] seems to have been well acquainted with his own genius, and to know what it was that Nature had bestowed upon him more bountifully than upon others: the power of displaying the vast, illuminating the splendid, enforcing the awful, darkening the gloomy, and aggravating the dreadful." Regarding the war in the poem between Heaven and Hell, the Milton scholar John Leonard writes: Paradise Lost is, among other things, a poem about civil war. Satan raises 'impious war in Heav'n' (i 43) by leading a third of the angels in revolt against God. The term 'impious war'. . .implies that civil war is impious. But Milton applauded the English people for having the courage to depose and execute King Charles I. In his poem, however, he takes the side of 'Heav'n's awful Monarch' (iv 960).

Critics have long wrestled with the question of why an antimonarchist and defender of regicide should have chosen a subject that obliged him to defend monarchical authority However, the editors at the Poetry Foundation argue that Milton's criticism of the English monarchy was being directed specifically at the Stuart monarchy and not at the monarchy system in general. In a similar vein, C.S. Lewis argued that there was no contradiction in Milton's position in the poem since, from Lewis' point of view, "Milton believed that God was his 'natural superior' and that Charles Stuart was not." Others, like literary critic William Empson argued that "Milton deserves credit for making God wicked, since the God of Christianity is 'a wicked God.'" Leonard places Empson's interpretation "in the [Romantic interpretive] tradition of Blake and Shelley." As the poet William Blake famously wrote, "The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it." And this quotation succinctly represents the way in which the 18th- and 19th-century English Romantic poets viewed Milton.

However, Empson's view is more complex. Leonard points out that "Empson never denies that Satan's plan is wicked. What he does deny is that God is innocent of its wickedness: 'Milton steadily drives home that the inmost counsel of God was the Fortunate Fall of man; however wicked Satan's plan may be, it is God's plan too [since God in Paradise Lost is depicted as being both omniscient and omnipotent].'" Although Leonard calls Empson's view "a powerful argument," he notes that this interpretation was challenged by Dennis Danielson in his book Milton's Good God (1982). Iconography The first illustrations to accompany the text of Paradise Lost were added to the fourth edition of 1688, with one engraving prefacing each book, of which up to eight of the twelve were by Sir John Baptist Medina, one by Bernard Lens II, and perhaps up to four (including Books I and XII, perhaps the most memorable) by another hand. The engraver was Michael Burghers (not 'Burgesse' as given in the Christ's College website).

By 1730 the same images had been re-engraved on a smaller scale by Paul Fourdrinier. Some of the most notable illustrators of Paradise Lost included William Blake, Gustave Dore and Henry Fuseli. However, the epic's illustrators also include John Martin, Edward Burney, Richard Westall, Francis Hayman, and many others. Outside of book illustrations, the epic has also inspired other visual works by well-known painters like Salvador Dali who executed a set of ten colour engravings in 1974. Milton's achievement in writing Paradise Lost without his sight inspired loosely biographical paintings by both Fuseli and Eugene Delacroix. Paradise Lost Essay - 383 Words Paradise Lost Essay ...Peace or Chaos: The Choice is Yours The statement misery loves company is well expressed in Book I of Paradise Lost, by John Milton. Satan is jealous of God’s command and decides him and an army of other rebellious angels will challenge God and overthrow Him as the ruler of heaven. Satan and the others woke in hell; they had just lost the battle against God. The results of their rebellion lost these disobedient angels access to...

1145 Words | 3 Pages Paradise Lost Essay ...Paradise Lost Q. “Adam’s disobedience surpasses the virtue of most fallen men.” Do you agree, or do you find Adam a weak character? Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, the predecessors of man, are the only two human beings in the epic poem of Milton. Before their fall from the paradise, they are as remote from any known human beings as any being of this world from the other world. They live a life of idyllic happiness. In the... 1121 Words | 3 Pages Milton s Satan in Paradise Lost Essay ...Critics abroad have argued about who the hero is of John Milton’s “Paradise Lost:” Satan, Adam or Christ, the Son? Since Milton’s overall theme stated in the opening lines of Book I is to relate ‘Man’s first disobedience’ and to ‘justify the ways of God to men’, Adam must be regarded as the main hero. John M. Steadman supports this view in an essay on “Paradise Lost:” “It is Adam’s action which constitutes the argument of the epic.”...

1861 Words | 5 Pages Paradise Lost Essay ...There had been many poems read throughout the semester that are intriguing, surprising, and romantic; but none more than Paradise Lost. It has put the story of creation into a drama filled epic that takes you through heaven, hell, and the Garden of Eden. “Long is the way- And hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light.” (Milton.Book2) Many intriguing characters, and dialogues including Satan and his army of devils, God and his devoted angels, and the creation of man-... 942 Words | 3 Pages Paradise Lost Essay ...invocation and plea for guidance, as well as a comparison of his task to that of the great Greek and Roman epics, the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Aeneid. Milton explains by way of this invocation that Adam and Eve’s fall is the major event that occurs in Paradise Lost. Their fall is the poem’s climax, even though it comes as no surprise. By describing the fall as tragic, Milton conveys the gravity and seriousness of this catastrophe for all of humankind, but he also...

2437 Words | 6 Pages Who Is the Hero in Paradise Lost Essay ...Who is the Hero in Paradise Lost? In John Milton’s epic, Paradise Lost, Milton retells the story of Genesis and the fall of man. One might think that because of the Bible, the hero would most likely be God or Jesus, but there are other possibilities in this story. A basic description of a hero would be, a man, a fundamentally good person confronting challenges and overcoming them successfully. Satan, in this epic, confronts many... 1145 Words | 3 Pages Explication Essay Paradise Lost ...ENG 230: 003 February 1, 2013 Explication Essay: Paradise Lost- Lines 80-134 The debate of free will versus predestination is a very common, prevalent topic in any Q&amp;A session or even religious sermon. The controversial issue of whether God has predestined His people for salvation or if God has given people the freedom in making their independent choice to do so is a question theologians will never solve. Many church congregations have lost...

874 Words | 3 Pages Paradise Lost Theme Essay ...When John Milton begins the poem of Paradise Lost he states that the theme of this story will be “Mans first disobedience”. The ideas of obedience/disobedience were one of the most common themes seen throughout the poem of Paradise Lost. Within it, all sins are seen as acts of disobedience against God. The poem tells the story of how Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and even further describes Satan’s disobedience. Once the first disobedient... 873 Words | 3 Pages SparkNotes: Paradise Lost: Analysis of Major Characters Analysis of Major Characters Themes, Motifs & Symbols Satan Some readers consider Satan to be the hero, or protagonist, of the story, because he struggles to overcome his own doubts and weaknesses and accomplishes his goal of corrupting humankind. This goal, however, is evil, and Adam and Eve are the moral heroes at the end of the story, as they help to begin humankind’s slow process of redemption and salvation. Satan is far from being the story’s object of admiration, as most heroes are. Nor does it make sense for readers to celebrate or emulate him, as they might with a true hero.

Yet there are many compelling qualities to his character that make him intriguing to readers. One source of Satan’s fascination for us is that he is an extremely complex and subtle character. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, for Milton to make perfect, infallible characters such as God the Father, God the Son, and the angels as interesting to read about as the flawed characters, such as Satan, Adam, and Eve. Satan, moreover, strikes a grand and majestic figure, apparently unafraid of being damned eternally, and uncowed by such terrifying figures as Chaos or Death. Many readers have argued that Milton deliberately makes Satan seem heroic and appealing early in the poem to draw us into sympathizing with him against our will, so that we may see how seductive evil is and learn to be more vigilant in resisting its appeal. Milton devotes much of the poem’s early books to developing Satan’s character. Satan’s greatest fault is his pride. He casts himself as an innocent victim, overlooked for an important promotion. But his ability to think so selfishly in Heaven, where all angels are equal and loved and happy, is surprising. His confidence in thinking that he could ever overthrow God displays tremendous vanity and pride.

When Satan shares his pain and alienation as he reaches Earth in Book IV, we may feel somewhat sympathetic to him or even identify with him. But Satan continues to devote himself to evil. Every speech he gives is fraudulent and every story he tells is a lie. He works diligently to trick his fellow devils in Hell by having Beelzebub present Satan’s own plan of action. Satan’s character—or our perception of his character—changes significantly from Book I to his final appearance in Book X. In Book I he is a strong, imposing figure with great abilities as a leader and public statesmen, whereas by the poem’s end he slinks back to Hell in serpent form. Satan’s gradual degradation is dramatized by the sequence of different shapes he assumes. He begins the poem as a just-fallen angel of enormous stature, looks like a comet or meteor as he leaves Hell, then disguises himself as a more humble cherub, then as a cormorant, a toad, and finally a snake. His ability to reason and argue also deteriorates. In Book I, he persuades the devils to agree to his plan.

In Book IV, however, he reasons to himself that the Hell he feels inside of him is reason to do more evil. When he returns to Earth again, he believes that Earth is more beautiful than Heaven, and that he may be able to live on Earth after all. Satan, removed from Heaven long enough to forget its unparalleled grandeur, is completely demented, coming to believe in his own lies. He is a picture of incessant intellectual activity without the ability to think morally. Once a powerful angel, he has become blinded to God’s grace, forever unable to reconcile his past with his eternal punishment. Adam Adam is a strong, intelligent, and rational character possessed of a remarkable relationship with God. In fact, before the fall, he is as perfect as a human being can be. He has an enormous capacity for reason, and can understand the most sophisticated ideas instantly. He can converse with Raphael as a near-equal, and understand Raphael’s stories readily. But after the fall, his conversation with Michael during his visions is significantly one-sided. Also, his self-doubt and anger after the fall demonstrate his new ability to indulge in rash and irrational attitudes. As a result of the fall, he loses his pure reason and intellect.

Adam’s greatest weakness is his love for Eve. He falls in love with her immediately upon seeing her, and confides to Raphael that his attraction to her is almost overwhelming. Though Raphael warns him to keep his affections in check, Adam is powerless to prevent his love from overwhelming his reason. After Eve eats from the Tree of Knowledge, he quickly does the same, realizing that if she is doomed, he must follow her into doom as well if he wants to avoid losing her. Eve has become his companion for life, and he is unwilling to part with her even if that means disobeying God. Adam’s curiosity and hunger for knowledge is another weakness. The questions he asks of Raphael about creation and the universe may suggest a growing temptation to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. But like his physical attraction to Eve, Adam is able to partly avoid this temptation. It is only through Eve that his temptations become unavoidable. Eve Created to be Adam’s mate, Eve is inferior to Adam, but only slightly. She surpasses Adam only in her beauty. She falls in love with her own image when she sees her reflection in a body of water. Ironically, her greatest asset produces her most serious weakness, vanity.

After Satan compliments her on her beauty and godliness, he easily persuades her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Aside from her beauty, Eve’s intelligence and spiritual purity are constantly tested. She is not unintelligent, but she is not ambitious to learn, content to be guided by Adam as God intended. As a result, she does not become more intelligent or learned as the story progresses, though she does attain the beginning of wisdom by the end of the poem. Her lack of learning is partly due to her absence for most of Raphael’s discussions with Adam in Books V, VI, and VII, and she also does not see the visions Michael shows Adam in Books XI and XII. Her absence from these important exchanges shows that she feels it is not her place to seek knowledge independently; she wants to hear Raphael’s stories through Adam later. The one instance in which she deviates from her passive role, telling Adam to trust her on her own and then seizing the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, is disastrous. Eve’s strengths are her capacity for love, emotion, and forebearance.

She persuades Adam to stay with her after the fall, and Adam in turn dissuades her from committing suicide, as they begin to work together as a powerful unit. Eve complements Adam’s strengths and corrects his weaknesses. Thus, Milton does not denigrate all women through his depiction of Eve. Rather he explores the role of women in his society and the positive and important role he felt they could offer in the divine union of marriage. God An omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent character who knows everything before it happens. Attempting to present such an unimaginable character accurately, Milton appropriates several of God’s biblical speeches into his speeches in Paradise Lost. God loves his creation and strongly defends humankind’s free will. He presents his love through his Son, who performs his will justly and mercifully. God, in Paradise Lost, is less a developed character than a personification of abstract ideas. He is unknowable to humankind and to some extent lacks emotion and depth. He has no weaknesses, embodies pure reason, and is always just. He explains why certain events happen, like Satan’s decision to corrupt Adam and Eve, tells his angels what will happen next, and gives his reasoning behind his actions in theological terms.

God allows evil to occur, but he will make good out of evil. His plan to save humankind by offering his Son shows his unwavering control over Satan. The Son For Milton, the Son is the manifestation of God in action. While God the Father stays in the realm of Heaven, the Son performs the difficult tasks of banishing Satan and his rebel angels, creating the universe and humankind, and punishing Satan, Adam and Eve with justice and mercy. The Son physically connects God the Father with his creation. Together they form a complete and perfect God. The Son personifies love and compassion. After the fall, he pities Adam and Eve and gives them clothing to help diminish their shame. His decision to volunteer to die for humankind shows his dedication and selflessness. The final vision that Adam sees in Book XII is of the Son’s (or Jesus’) sacrifice on the cross—through this vision, the Son is able to calm Adam’s worries for humankind and give Adam and Eve restored hope as they venture out of Paradise.

More Help John Milton and the Reception of Eve Both of her beauty and submissive charms Smiled with superior love… (4.497-498) Milton repeatedly characterizes Eve in terms of her physical beauty and her inferiority to Adam. Adam is the image of God; Eve is the image of Adam (4.299). Milton’s Eve has “golden tresses wore / Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved / As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied / Subjection…” (4.305-308). Someone from Britain might idealize a blond beauty, but his assumption that her subjection is justified by her curly hair seems arbitrary and prejudicial. At the climax of Milton’s story, Eve considers concealing the fruit she has taken from the forbidden tree so that she can be superior to Adam, but she changes her mind because she might actually die, leaving Adam free to marry another (9.816-832). Adam, however, chooses to eat the fruit because he cannot imagine life without Eve (9.908-916).

In the Bible, the woman eats because the fruit looks edible and could make her wise, and the man apparently eats because the woman handed it to him as he stood next to her listening to the serpent ( Gen 3:6 ). There are no further details on their motivations. Milton’s portrayal of Eve is pervasive in Western culture. Influenced by attitudes of his time, Milton perpetuates the idea that Eve alone chose to sin for selfish reasons. Eve’s worth is in her beauty, though Milton does allow her high-order reasoning (see her discussions with Adam and Satan in Book 9). Unfortunately, like Satan, she uses her power for her own gain. While it is true that Milton builds on long-held conceptions of Eve (found in early stages in 1Tim 2:13-15 ), his poetry brings her to life in ways that color social and theological perspectives still today. One can see Milton’s influence in a wide array of places, from the opening credits of the television show Desperate Housewives to a finalist in a 2011 Super Bowl advertising contest sponsored by Doritos.

It is important for modern readers to be aware of other significant interpretations of the character Eve, many of which are more ethically and literarily sophisticated that Milton’s. Recently, many biblical scholars have tried to read Gen 2-3 without the assumptions and elaborations of Milton’s version. For example, the biblical scholar Phyllis Trible has offered a particularly compelling rereading of the story of the garden of Eden in which she proposes that not only is the woman the man’s equal: the woman actually acts as a theologian and translator while the man is a passive recipient of the fruit. Michelle J. Morris, "John Milton and the Reception of Eve", n.p. [cited 17 Jan 2017]. Online: Contributors Paradise Lost A 17th-century English poet who wrote "Paradise Lost," an epic poem describing the fall of humanity and the war between Heaven and Hell. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, located in the garden of Eden, from which God forbade Adam and Eve to eat. Someone whose personal and ethical beliefs emphasize human behavior and individual responsibility, rather than adherence to an external code. Relating to thought about the nature and behavior of God.

Gen 3:6 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of ... View more 1Tim 2:13-15 Epic poetry - definition and examples from Crossref-it.info Epic poetry Definition Epic poetry refers to long poems which are modelled on a range of classical epics. These include: Ancient Greek poems, such as: Homer's Iliad, which tell the stories of the fall of the city of Ilium Homer's Odyssey, which recounts the adventures of Odysseus Ancient Roman poems, such as: Virgil's Aeneid, which tells of the founding of Rome by the hero Aeneas. The epic is usually a long, book-length poem (hence a common usage of the word to mean ‘lengthy'), and is usually divided into canto s, or chapters, often called ‘books'. Originally, the term epic would have referred to oral folk poetry, whose originator would not be known and which would be told aloud. The literary epic, however, refers to the epics that are written down and whose authors are known.

Epic conventions Epic poetry follows the conventions used in the classical epics. These conventions include: The invocation , in which the gods are invoked in support of the poet at the beginning of the poem Starting in medias res, a Latin phrase for ‘in the middle of things'. The epic tends to thrust the reader into the heat of the action and explain the background story later A statement of the theme of the poem, usually in the first few lines Use of deus ex machina , a literary device in which the gods provide a miraculous solution or diversion in the plot A patriotic focus, such as the founding or fall of a great city. To support this, epics frequently give details of the genealogy of heroes, or catalogue the ships in a fleet, for example. Style The epic tends to use elaborate sentence structure and to draw upon Latinate , rather than Anglo-Saxon , vocabulary. This increases the sense of importance of the plot, protagonist (s) and location of the poem Epic poetry also tends to use epic simile s, similes which are longer than usual and extremely detailed, to the extent that they may temporarily take over the narrative of the text. These are also known as Homeric simile s.

Content Epics tend to emphasise war and fighting, thus demonstrating the bravery (or otherwise) of its characters There is usually a struggle of some kind, which may be mental as well as physical, which the hero must overcome The gods feature heavily in classical epics as the source of human events, and writers often show the gods playing with humankind for amusement. Examples The Faerie Queene (1596), by Edmund Spenser, is one of the longest poems in English,and tells of a fairy queen called Gloriana, and the successes and struggles of her kingdom. It is a thinly-disguised tribute to Queen Elizabeth I and the Tudor dynasty John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) is one of the most famous epics in English Literature. Milton tells the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve and expulsion from the Garden of Eden , as told in the book of Genesis . Though Adam is ostensibly the hero, Milton's vivid and often sympathetic descriptions of Satan have caused critics to debate the hero-figure in Paradise Lost. Like the classical epics, Milton opens his poem with a statement of his theme and an invocation. To do with Ancient Greek and Roman civilisation or literature.

A division in a long poem, most famously used in Dant To do with Ancient Greek and Roman civilisation or literature. 1. Making someone experience a particular feeling or memory 2. Calling on an external power to help, similar to an incantation to call upon a spirit or a deity. A literary device whereby the plot is suddenly moved forward out of an apparently insolvable situation. Derived from Latin; pertaining to Latin. By association, elevated lexis. Term used to describe the Germanic tribes who settled in England from the mid fifth century onwards; also used of their history, culture and language until the Norman Conquest in 1066. The 'protagonist' in Greek drama meant the chief contender, or main actor. An extended simile or comparison. An extended or epic simile, as used by the ancient Greek poet, Homer. The disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Bible is known as the Fall of Humankind. Christians believe that humans from then on have had a a predispostion to disobey God.

According to Genesis (the first book of the Old Testament), Adam is the first human being, made in the image / likeness of God, placed in the Garden of Eden and given dominion over the earth. According to the book of Genesis in the Bible the first woman, said to have been created by God out of Adam's rib, to be his companion. The place described in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, in which God placed his first human creatures, Adam and Eve. The devil; the term 'Satan' actually means 'Enemy' and is often used to refer to the force of evil in the world. The Creation; Fall of humankind and universal or original sin; Noah and the Flood; the call of Abraham (start of salvation history), followed by the stories of the other patriarchs, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

SparkNotes: Paradise Lost: Important Quotations Explained Important Quotations Explained Of Man’s First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste Brought Death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, Sing Heav’nly Muse, 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 Heav’ns and Earth Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill Delight thee more, and Siloa’s Brook that flow’d Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my advent’rous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th’ Aonian Mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhyme. (I.1–26) With these lines, Milton begins Paradise Lost and lays the groundwork for his project, presenting his purpose, subject, aspirations, and need for heavenly guidance. He states that his subject will be the disobedience of Adam and Eve, whose sin allows death and pain into the world.

He invokes his muse, whom he identifies as the Holy Spirit. He asserts his hopes that his epic poem will surpass the other great epic poems written before, as he claims that his story is the most original and the most virtuous. He also asks his muse to fill his mind with divine knowledge so that he can share this knowledge with his readers. Finally, he hopes this knowledge and guidance from his muse will allow him to claim authority without committing any heresies, as he attempts to explain God’s reasoning and his overall plan for humankind. 2. So much the rather thou Celestial Light Shine inward, and the mind through all powers Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell Of things invisible to mortal sight. (III.1–6; 21–29; 51–55) These passages from Book III make up part of Milton’s second and longest invocation, which is also his most autobiographical and symbolic. Milton refers to light simultaneously as divine wisdom and literal light. When he speaks about his blindness he refers to both his inward blindness, or lack of divine wisdom, and his literal blindness, or loss of eyesight.

He begins by praising holy light as the essence of God. The idea that God is light was common before and during Milton’s time, and is a popular interpretation of certain biblical passages in Genesis. He then invokes his heavenly muse, the Holy Spirit, by reusing similar images and ideas from his first invocation; remember that Milton has asked for this heaven muse to illuminate “what in me is dark” (I.22). Symbolically, Milton asks for his muse to enter his body and fill him with divine knowledge. Milton discusses his physical, outward blindness when he compares himself to other famous blind “Prophets old” (III.36), such as Homer (Maeonides) and Tiresias, and asks that he be filled with even more wisdom than them. He does not seek pity for his blindness, explaining that he is still active and undeterred from his poetic purpose. He believes that his outward blindness is insignificant, and that he hopes he is not inwardly blind. He hopes to sing beautifully like the darkling bird, which sings at night, unable to see who or what she is singing to.

He ends his invocation by asking for his inward blindness to be corrected so that he can properly tell the story of Adam and Eve. 3. Not equal, as thir sex not equal seem’d; For contemplation hee and valor form’d, For softness shee and sweet attractive Grace, Hee for God only, shee for God in him: His fair large Front and Eye sublime declar’d Absolute rule; and Hyacinthine Locks Round from his parted forelock manly hung Clust’ring, but not beneath his shoulders broad: Shee as a veil down to the slender waist Her unadorned golden tresses wore Dishevell’d, but in wanton ringlets wav’d As the Vine curls her tendrils, which impli’d Subjection, but requir’d with gentle sway, And by her yielded, by him best receiv’d, Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, And sweet reluctant amorous delay. (IV.295–311) The narrator makes these observations in Book IV as Adam and Eve prepare for bed. The narrator compares Adam and Eve based on their appearance and general demeanor, reasoning from that in order to assess their spiritual value.

The argument behind the description lies in their different roles: since Adam was created for God, and Eve was created for both God and Adam, Eve’s purpose makes her less spiritually pure and farther removed from God’s grace. She serves both God and Adam and submits to Adam out of love and duty to God. He notes that Adam seems to be more intelligent and spiritually pure than Eve. This assessment illustrates Milton’s belief that male and female genders and their roles are unequal. The Bible also speaks of these unequal roles, arguing that a wife should submit and serve her husband. These beliefs were common in Milton’s time, as many people believed they were sanctioned by the Bible. This apparent gender imbalance between Adam and Eve is continually portrayed throughout the rest of Paradise Lost. 4. What better can we do, than to place Repairing where he judg’d us, prostrate fall Before him reverent, and there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears Watering the ground, and with our sighs the Air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign Of sorrow unfeign’d, and humiliation meek.

Undoubtedly he will relent and turn From his displeasure; in whose look serene, When angry most he seem’d and most severe, What else but favor, grace, and mercy shone? So spake our Father penitent, nor Eve Felt less remorse: they forthwith to the place Repairing where he judg’d them prostrate fell Before him reverent, and both confess’d Humbly their faults, and pardon begg’d, with tears Watering the ground, and with their sighs the Air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign Of sorrow unfeign’d, and humiliation meek. (X.1086–1104) These lines at the end of Book X, first spoken by Adam, and then narrated by Milton, relate Adam and Eve’s decision to pray to God for forgiveness and their subsequent action of prayer. This point in the story finds Adam and Eve choosing between obedience and disobedience. Their repentance allows them to be forgiven, and their forgiveness allows for the possible redemption of humankind. These lines present the first step in humankind’s long search for salvation.

Much of Adam’s speech and Milton’s narration overlaps; many lines are repeated with only the tenses and pronouns changed. This use of repetition has a dramatic effect on a dramatic and important scene. Milton’s use of repetition gives his narration an emotional accuracy and compassionate tone. And the repetition places extra emphasis on their act of prayer, allowing readers to understand its extreme importance to the story. It also demonstrates that Adam and Eve repent exactly what they planned in the way they planned it, showing their dedication and determination to obey God strictly even after the fall. 5. Example Essays: Adam And Eve Epic Poetry Satan 1. Milton's Depiction of Eve in Paradise Lost In the epic poem, Paradise Lost, John Milton depicts Eve as a woman who is solely made for beauty and man. ... After God had noticed that Adam needed a companion, He created Eve out of Adam's body parts. ... Milton frequently notes how Eve is inferior to Adam. ... After the sleepless night, God even sends down an angel, Raphael, to tell Adam of the great danger he and the woman will endure if she listens to Satan. ...

He was inspired by Cromwell and his way of writing and is best known for the epic poem Paradise Lost.Milton's poetry reflects his passion and beliefs. ... Word Count: 1176 2. Paradise Lost vs. The Faerie Queene Milton"s Paradise Lost is an epic poem showing the battle between G-d and Satan, good and evil. ... After Milton seems to lose interest with Satan, he draws his attention to Adam and Eve, specially Adam, in which Milton portrays him as Eve"s superior and as the character who enjoys a closer relationship to G-d. ... Knightly romances conform largely to the traditional notions of heroism in epic poetry. ... This is the first step that Adam takes toward finally becoming the epic hero. ... This decision of praying is vital since Adam has ensured that humankind will not go in the direction of S... Word Count: 1768 3. Satan in John Milton's Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is an epic poem written by John Milton in the seventeenth century and it is based on the concept of epic conventions such as epic similes, invocation, catalogue or beginning in medias res. The essential theme of epic poetry is usually heroism and this poem is no exception. ...

As already mentioned, epic poems usually start in the middle. ... Just like Adam and Eve fell in their faith, so did Satan when he rebelled against God. ... Milton in his poem also uses epic simile and compares the Satan to Titans or Leviathan, which also makes reader think of him as a hero rather than a v... Word Count: 659 4. Paradise Lost However, for people who are familiar with epic poetry of such authors as Homer, we can see that this is really a great example of an epic poem, which is no surprise since in his times, Greek poetry was quite famous and influential. ... Is it G-d, his Son, Satan, Adam, Eve or the Angels? ... It is also believed that G-d if all knowing, and he knew perfectly well what is going to happen, which means that whatever Satan or Adam and Eve did or didn"t do, the fall and exile would of still occurred. ... Adam and Eve are creatures that do what they are told. ... So isn"t Satan a real hero here? ... Word Count: 1754 5.

The Epic of Paradise Lost The subject thus is the transgression committed by Adam and Eve in eating the fruit of the "forbidden tree" and their subsequent expulsion from Paradise. ... It is in fact the Muse of religious poetry who inspired the poets and prophets of Israel as well as Christian leaning and poetry. ... The picking of the fruit of the "Tree of knowledge" by Eve is the apex of the whole architecture of 'Paradise Lost'. ... Only Adam and Eve are presented as noble human beings keeping in view the nature of their role in the poem. ... As in other great epics of Homer and Virgil, Milton has delibera... Word Count: 1662 6. Villains in Literature and Elizabethan Poetry This dreadful practice of necromancy was not as horrifying as the chain of murders committed by Richard III.Satan: Milton's Paradise LostIn the epic poem of Paradise Lost by John Milton, Satan who is one of the characters is also depicted as a villainous character that is up to causing rifts and disturbance due to his quest for power and authority (Milton 58). ...

Satan disobeys God, and the uprising led by him in the Heaven results in the fall of Satan and angels from the light to darkness and suffering. ... Instead, he depicted Satan as possessing many qualities which are good, noble, ... Word Count: 4910 Paradise Lost Study Guide - Course Hero Genre: Allegory Perspective and Narrator: Paradise Lost is told by a third-person omniscient narrator. Readers learn that the narrator is the author, John Milton, when he inserts references to himself, as he does in discussing his blindness in Book 3: "these eyes, that roll in vain/To find thy piercing ray." Tense: Paradise Lost is told in the present tense. About the Title: Paradise Lost refers to the expulsion of the first humans, Adam and Eve, from the Garden of Eden after they commit sin by eating from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Characters

Question: Which epic poem by John Milton tells the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve?
Answer: Paradise Lost