Download Unit Four “The Other Restoration”

Unit Four “The Other Restoration”
Lesson Six
Milton’s Paradise Lost
Introduction
The poem was immediately recognized as a
masterpiece.
 Dryden is one of the first to critically
approach the poem in his Apology for
Heroic Poetry and Poetic License

Book One, from the Beginning
Latinate structure makes the poem difficult
for us to read
 The first sentence is 16 lines long
 The first verb doesn’t come till the
beginning of line six, “sing”.

Invocation to the Muse
Milton formats the poem as a traditional
epic
 His “Muse” is the Christian Holy Spirit
(Holy Ghost)
 But he also uses pagan names and
trappings.
 But this is always a Christian poem

The Poem’s Purpose

Given in lines 24-25:
–
–

I may assert Eternal Providence
And justify the ways of God to men
That is the “main point” or “thesis” of the
poem
Introduction to Satan
In the next part of the poem, we are
introduced to what has happened--Satan’s
revolt.
 We learn that Satan and the other fallen
angels have undergone and physical change,
as well.
 We also meet Hell’s “#2” Beelzebub

Devils’ “Life Goal”

In lines 120ff, we learn of what the devils
vow to do:
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We may with more successful hope resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Irreconcilable to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and in th’ excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven
Illogical Devils

The devils know that God is omnipotent,
yet they still tried to overpower him. See ll
130-3
–
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...in dreadful deeds
Fearless, endangered Heaven’s perpetual king
–
(my emphasis)
See Themselves as Gods
In line 138, they refer to themselves as
“gods” and this is something they continue
throughout the poem.
 This vanity is one of the reasons they are in
trouble in the first place.

Repeat the Evil Plan

Lines 159-60, repeat the vow to cause bad
–
–
To do aught good never will be our task,
But ever to do ill our sole delight.
We “See” Hell
In the lines following line 175, the weather
starts to clear and through Satan’s eyes we
“see” Hell for the first time.
 What follows is a long descriptive passage

Description of Satan
In the lines following 192, we also “see”
Satan.
 He’s large. A rood is 6-8 meters and he’s
“many a rood”.
 Also winged, as befits a former angel.
 Long descriptive passage

Famous Lines

From line 252ff, very famous section. We
learn that Satan has:
–
–
–

A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven
This ties in very much with the theme of
Free Will
Satan’s Paradox

From line 258ff we see the paradox Satan
sets up: He’s free in Hell, a prison:
–
–
–
–
–
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Here at least
We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence.
Here we may reign secure; and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
Beautiful Speech
In lines 315 to the end of the section we
read, Satan gives a beautiful speech trying
to rouse the fallen angels to action.
 His final line in that section:

–

Awake, arise or be forever fallen!
Is quite awe-inspiring. We can see why the
angels/devils will follow him.
Book Two
Again, the section we read starts with
beautiful images.
 In lines 304 ff we again see beautiful
sentiments, but in Milton’s universe, they
are false.
 As much as we are attracted to Satan and
his words, we have to remember that he is
the Arch-Enemy

Man is the Key to Hurting God
From lines 345 on, Satan talks about how
Man is the key to hurting God.
 From 358 on, Satan describes how Man is
the weakness in God’s “armor”.

–
–
–
This place may lie exposed,
The utmost border of his kingdom, left
To their defense who hold it;
Introduce the Idea of Seduction
In line 367, Satan declares that if he can’t
force Man to betray God, he may be able to
“seduce” him.
 This may make God abolish Man, causing
God pain, as Man is currently His favorite
creature.

“Synod of Gods”
From line 389 on, we see Satan spinning out
a long fantasy about what may happen.
 In here, we see Satan at his seductive best.
 Around 468ff, we also see him being quite
Machiavellian in his approach to leadership

Gates of Hell
Since Hell is a prison, it must have gates,
and Milton has them guarded by Sin and
Death.
 Wonderful personifications of both in terms
of detail and imagery

Sin
A woman
 As your footnote tells you, based on other
descriptions, ie, Virgil and Spenser.
 This description leads itself to some
disturbing readings of the poem.

Death
The son of Sin and Satan
 Traditional shadow figure
 Rapes his mother to father the hellhounds
 Threatens Satan

Satan’s Reaction to Sin and Death

First tries to fight
–

He’s afraid of no one but God and Jesus
Then he tries seduction. From line 815,
we’re told the “subtle fiend” answers Sin
“smoothly”
Sets up Parallel to Jesus
In line 826ff, Satan says he will sacrifice
himself “one for all”
 This echoes Jesus’s sacrifice of himself to
Death so that Man may live.

Sin and the Key
Sin has the key to the gates of hell, but she’s
been ordered by God not to use it.
 Lines 854ff she has a great speech to Satan
about how she owes him more allegiance
than she owes to God.
 She opens the doors of Hell forever, or until
God will close them at the end of time.

Book Three
In the section we read, we learn (as if we
don’t already know) that God knows and
sees all.
 We also see Heaven and “meet” Jesus

Free Will

In lines 98ff, God explains why He gave
free will to Man, even though it will lead to
Man’s fall.
–
–
Not free, what proof could they have given sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith or love.
Foreknowledge is not Destiny

Lines 117ff, God explains that His
foreknowledge is different from
predestination:
–
–
Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,
Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.
Avoiding The Fall
In lines 124ff, God explains that to avoid
the Fall of Man, He would have to change
Man’s nature.
 He has decreed that they have Free Will, so
he will not change that:

–
they themselves ordained their fall (128)
Satan vs. Man
God explains that Satan fell through his
own pride, so he has no special Grace.
 But Man will fall through Satan’s
temptation, so God will offer Grace.
 Lines 170ff, God explains His Grace and
how it will help

Some are Elect (Special/Chosen)
Line 183, Milton explains that while some
are elect (a thought he shares with Calvin to
some degree), the rest have a chance at
grace.
 Through Grace, they will hear God’s call,
“To pray, repent, and to bring obedience
due.” (191)

Jesus’s Sacrifice
God wants One to suffer for All (remember
Satan’s words) and asks for a volunteer.
 Jesus, who represents Mercy, says He will
do it.

–

“Behold me, then: me for him, life for life”
(237)
Jesus will let Death conquer, but then He
will overcome Death (ll 242ff)
Book Four: Satan in Paradise
The section we reads starts with a soliloquy
by Satan in which he rails against his fate.
 Beautiful poetry
 We pity him
 He feels regrets

Pride

Satan knows that the Sin of Pride is his
downfall
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Till pride and worse ambition threw me down
Warring in Heaven against Heaven’s matchless King!
Ah, wherefore? He deserved no such return
From me, who created what I was
In that bright eminence, and with his good
Upbraided none; (ll 40-46)
Absalom and Achitophel
We see the echoes of Satan’s speech in
Dryden’s later poem.
 See lines 57ff

“Myself am Hell”
In the passage starting around line 69 shows
that Satan is still proud. Too proud.
 He knows he could have God’s mercy, yet
he rejects it.
 All he has to do is submit to God’s will and
he could be reinstated in Heaven, and he
refuses.

No Hope Means No Fear

In line line 108, Satan gives up hope for
redemption, and this frees him to do all evil.
–
–
–
All good to me is lost;
Evil, be thou my good: by thee at least
Divided empire with Heaven’s king I hold
 (ll
109-111)
Satan Looks around Paradise
Very sensual description
 The long passage that follows Satan’s
decision gives us a lovely mind-picture of
Paradise.
 Christian images meld with the Pagan. Not
a problem for Milton, for God created All

–
We see this again in the Christian allegory of
CS Lewis (esp Chronicles of Narnia)
First Sight of Humans
Line 288, Satan finally sees humans for the
first time. Us, too.
 Milton gives us a long description of prelapsarian Man (before the Fall)

Sexism Rears its Ugly Head

Milton’s very famous description of Adam
and Eve:
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though both
Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed;
For contemplation he and valor formed,
For softness she and sweet attractive grace;
He for God only, she for God in him.
 Lines
295-99
Stereotypes
Milton is not just creating his ideal of
woman
 He’s playing with stereotypes that go back a
long way in Western civilization
 In some ways, the Puritan ideal of
womanhood was an advance on earlier
Catholic ideals of woman.

Eve
From line 303 on, we have a beautiful
portrait of Eve, a natural, sensual woman.
 Compare her to the heroines we’ve met so
far, especially in the plays.
 She’s not brittle, hard, cold.

Satan Blames God
Satan never takes responsibility for his own
actions.
 His temptation of Man is God’s fault.

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Thank him who puts me, loath, to this revenge
On you, who wrong me not, for him who wronged.
 Lines 386-87
Adam and Eve
In lines 410 ff we see Adam and Eve
interacting.
 Adam tells the story of Earth so far.
 Lets us know about the one “forbidden
fruit”

Eve on Eve

Eve’s first words:
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O thou for whom
And from whom I was formed flesh of thy flesh
And without whom am to no end, my guide
And head…” (ll 440-43)
What can modern critics do with these
lines?
Paul’s Contribution
We “see” Jesus’s view in the Gospels, but
Christianity is also based very much on the
Epistles, or letters, that follow the gospels.
 These were mainly written by Paul, a
Hellenized Jew.
 His views reflect both the Greek and the
Hebrew traditions of women as flawed.

–
See Aristotle, who viewed women as base
animals.
Not in a Vacuum
As long as Christianity plays a part in
Western civilization, these ideas about
womanhood are built into the fabric of
society.
 Fading a bit, but will never go away.

Eve’s Vanity
In lines 461ff, Eve describes her first love-herself.
 Unlike Adam, Eve is vain. Although Adam
is perfect, she is the “weaker vessel”.
 She accepts this, as would have most
women in the 17th century.

Sex in Paradise
Lines 491ff show us Milton’s attitude to
prelapsarian sex. It’s a blessing
 This extends to sex in marriage in his time
(our time, too, as in after the fall)
 Sex is a gift from God
 Radically different from the commonly held
Catholic view of sex during that period.
