Paradise Lost

A commentary
John Milton (1608-74) lived in one of the most turbulent times in the
history of Britain, the only time the country ceased to be a monarchy or
a constitutional monarchy. Milton himself was a Puritan and a devout
supporter of Oliver Cromwell. He spent much of his creative energy to
support the anti-monarchial, Parliamentary cause and served as a civil
servant in the Commonwealth. After Cromwell's death and the
Restoration, Milton went into hiding, was briefly arrested but pardoned
and spent the rest of his life living quietly.
Despite Shakespeare's notoriety and bardolatry, it is John Milton who is
considered "the greater English poet" by many. The reason why his
supremacy tends to be overlooked is perhaps that for some, it is difficult
to embrace Milton's „bulldog“ republicanism and steadfast adherence to
the ideas of theological and political revolution. His personal attitudes,
though by no means simplistic, are also debatable. Milton, for example,
was both an advocate of divorce as he understood marriage as a unity
serving "mutual solace", but also of polygamy.
Paradise Lost is an epic poem written in blank verse, detailing two
overlapping stories from the Bible, i. e. the revolt and expulsion of the
rebel angels and the temptation of Adam and Eve and their expulsion
from Paradise, therefore, "paradise lost“.
In Book IV we are reading from, Satan's come from Hell to spy on Adam
and Eve and is scheming as to how to bring about their downfall. "The
happy pair“ will be the instrument of his revenge on God, who "thrust“
Satan to Hell where: " neither joy nor love, but fierce desire/(Among our
other torments not the least)/Still unfulfiĺl'd with pain of longing pines.“
Satan pays particular attention to the Tree of Knowledge, the tallest tree that
"there stands" in the Garden of Eden, and realizes its special status may aid
him in his intention of corrupting the Man.
He learns "from their own mouths" God has given Adam and Eve freedom to
rule over all creation under one explicit condition, which is not to eat from the
Tree of Knowledge of good and evil on penalty of death.
This, of course, is one of the many biblical examples of God testing his flock's
obedience. Satan detects the potential fallibility and curiosity in Adam and
Eve, and seeks "a wandering spirit" that may assist him in the temptation of
Eve, who he identifies as the weaker-minded of the two.
Satan's diatribe discussing knowledge and ignorance is interesting. In class, we usually
brainstorm ideas related to "knowledge". Words and expressions such as "light",
"enlightenment", "education", "books", "brains", "potential“, "opportunity“ feature very
often, and the connotations are nearly always positive. Ignorance, on the other hand,
suggests "subservience“, "poverty“ and "darkness“. Notice for example the difference in
the expressions: "to be in the know“ and "to be in the dark“. So Satan's questions
addressing the concept of "forbidden knowledge“ are thought-provoking: "Can it be sin
to know?“ Satan then ventures to argue that Adam and Eve are only happy due to their
ignorance, i.e. that their bliss is the bliss of mindless, blinded simpletons, and that God
intends "to keep them low“ in order to maintain his sovereignity. In Satan's view, God is
a despotic ruler, exercising the "tyranny of heaven“ and the Tree of Knowledge
symbolizes his élitism.
Apart from exceptional musicality of Paradise Lost (most probably achieved due to the fact that
Milton composed it in his head and then dictated to his daughters and assistants) and
exceptional imagery (for example, the vividness of colours that Milton, now long blind, was
able to see in his "inward eye“ only, to borrow from Wordsworth), the poem is fascinating
precisely due to the character of Satan, who is in fact the central figure of the poem and
unwittingly, the most interesting one.
In the extract, Satan is observing Adam and Eve basking in God's grace and enjoying their love
games, while he is doomed and damned. He is seen as an ambitious man, formerly the most
prominent of God's angels, i.e. Lucipher, the bearer of light, who challenged God and organized
a rebellion against him, and was consequently banished to Hell. He is furiously jealous of the
fact God has now Man as the new favourite and, as it seems to Satan, a plaything to indulge. He
envies Adam and Eve their limelight, which he had also known and lost, and bears a fierce and
spiteful grudge against God who seems to have discarded him so ruthlessly.
This makes him demonic but also, perhaps contrary to what Milton intended, exciting
and relatable. After all, envy, jealousy, ambition and frustration are profoundly human
sentiments. The sense of "no fair“ in the situation when we are going through a rough
patch in our lives while others seem to sail easy, is one all of us have experienced one
time or another.
According to the Bible, the expulsion of the first people from Paradise was the moment
in which polarity entered our world. Therefore, although we all pine and strive for
perfection and bliss, it´s hard for us to imagine what it actually is and feels like. It is
much harder for Milton to create a sense of heavenly perfection, too, and contain God
into the frame of a literary character. So God in the poem comes across as a distant
entity speaking in a transparent language. Satan's speeches, on the other hand, are juicy
with strong passions.
So much so that in fact some critics believe Paradise Lost is a political
allegory in which Satan represents Cromwell, who rebells against God,
i.e. King Charles I., and although the king wins and the monarchy (i.e.
God's heavenly rule) is restored, Milton's sympathies lie with the
defeated.
This is a very debatable stance but it can certainly be asserted that
Milton's vision and viewpoint in Paradise Lost is original and non-
conformist.