Paradise Lost John Milton

“ 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 the loss of Eden” -- Paradise Lost

John Milton’s Paradise Lost Major Themes of Paradise Lost Justifying the ways of God to Humanity Free Will, Fate, Predestination, and God’s Omnipotence and Omniscience Freedom and Responsibility Reason: Human and Divine

John Milton’s Paradise Lost Options for the Fallen Angels (Book 2) Moloch (pagan god associated with violence and bloodshed) = Open war against God (What could be worse that their present situation?) Belial (“weak and slothful”) = Wait and see what will happen; in favor of “ignoble ease” (Perhaps God will lessen their punishment.) Mammon (“wealth”) = Make the best out of their situation (There may be wealth to be found in Hell.) Beelzebub = Avenge themselves on God by invading and corrupting Eden

Other Themes: Inordinate pride: It leads to Satan's downfall and his continuing defiance of God. Envy: Arising from Satan's pride, it makes him jealous of God the Son, who is the favorite of God the Father. Revenge: It motivates Satan to corrupt Adam and Eve and thereby subvert God's plans. Vanity: It leads Eve to believe—under the temptation of Satan—that she can become godlike. Deceit: Satan appears in many disguises and tells many lies during his mission to trick Adam and Eve. Infidelity: Adam betrays God by siding with Eve and eating the forbidden fruit. Unbridled pursuit of knowledge: It leads Adam and Eve to seek knowledge beyond their ken, knowledge that will make them godlike.

Other Themes Volition: Angels and humans alike possess free will, enabling them to make decisions. o Satan freely chooses to rebel against God, and Adam and Eve freely choose to eat forbidden fruit. o The consequences of their actions are their own fault, not God's. Milton uses this theme to help support the central theme, "to justify the ways of God to man." Disobedience: All sins are acts of disobedience against God, impairing or cutting off the sinner's relationship with God. o Adam and Eve and all of the devils disobey God through their sins. Loyalty: Loyalty to God and his ways are necessary for eternal salvation. o Loyalty requires obedience. All of the good angels exhibit loyalty.

Other Themes Repentance: Even though Adam and Eve have disobeyed God, their repentance makes them eligible for eventual salvation. Hope: At the end of Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve enter the imperfect world with hope; they can yet attain eternal salvation. Redemption: Through the suffering and death of the Son of God, sinful man can reconcile himself with God if he is sincerely sorry for his sins.

Book 1:In a long, twisting opening sentence mirroring the epic poetry of the Ancient Greeks, the poet invokes the "Heavenly Muse" (the Holy Spirit) and states his theme, the Fall of Man, and his aim, to "justify the ways of God to men."[4] Satan, Beelzebub, and the other rebel angels are described as lying on a lake of fire, from where Satan rises up to claim hell as his own domain and delivers a rousing speech to his followers ("Better to reign in hell, than serve in heav'n").epic poetryAncient GreeksHoly SpiritFall of Man[4]

Books 2-12 go on to describe the journey that Satan takes to try and “stain” God’s creation of Man and Earth. If he can taint that, he can somehow hurt God. Milton’s description of Lucifer is beautiful because it takes time for him to turn into Satan ( or Enemy)

Background to the War in Heaven Lucifer means “ The Light-bearer” Most beloved of all Angels. Wanted to be a god, not the God. Convinces a 1/3 of the Angels to rebel with him. He was able to do this because God left a 1/3 of Angels without a certain Grace to prevent them from falling as a test.

Lucifer commits the greatest of all sins: Pride. Asking, “ Why not I?” He then uses his “ silver tongue” to convince others to join him turning some of the most powerful Angels in Heaven against God.

The Three classes of Angels Seraphim: Includes the Archangels ( Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, and at one time, Lucifer) Cheribum ( like the ones that are painted that look like babies) Dominations (spirits)

The Characters Satan, the leader of the fallen angels (now known as devils) Beelzebub, Satan’s closest friend/ally God, God the Father God, God the Son; also known as the Messiah, Christ Adam, The first man, living in Paradise Eve, His wife, supposed to be under his control

Characters Satan (Lucifer, Archfiend) : Powerful and prideful angel who, with legions of supporters, leads an unsuccessful rebellion against God and suffers eternal damnation. To gain revenge, he devises a plan to corrupt God's newly created beings, Adam and Eve, through deceit. o Modern readers often admire him for his steely defiance. o He would rather rule in hell, he says, than serve in heaven. o It was not Milton's intent, however, to create an admirable character; rather his intent was to create a character of colossal hatred—loathsome, execrable, incurably remorseless.

Characters Adam and Eve : The first human beings, created by God to fill the void that resulted when God cast Satan and his supporters out of the celestial realm. Adam and Eve live on the planet earth in utter happiness in a special garden where spring is the only season and love and godly living prevail. Though they have all that they want and need, cunning Satan tells them they can have knowledge and status beyond their reach if only they eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. o Eve can become a goddess, he says. o Vanity overtakes her. She eats. Adam reluctantly does the same.

Characters Sin : Daughter of Satan. o She was born from his head in the manner of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and war, who sprang from the forehead of Zeus, king of the gods. Death : Son of Satan and Sin