Paradise Lost

Author: John Milton (1608-1674)
Written: c 1658-1664
Editor: William Kerrigan, John Rumrich and Stephen M. Fallon
Publisher: Modern Library (2008 Edition)
Bought: Book Depository


Introduction

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse composed by John Milton. It was first published in 1667 in 10 books. A second edition, in 12 books and with small but significant revisions, was published in 1674. John Milton and William Shakespeare are generally considered England’s greatest poets.


What is it about?

This is a story about the fall of Satan and the fall of man. It starts, like the Homeric poems, in medias res and with an invocation to the “Heav’nly Muse”. Satan and his followers have already been cast out of heaven. Initially, he appears to accept his lot. He says it is “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” (I.263). But before long, he embarks on a quest to destroy God’s latest creation, mankind. The poem then switches to Adam and Eve in Eden. They hear of how Satan rebelled and was ultimately defeated by the Son of God. They hear of their own creation. Finally, they hear of God’s explicit command not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Well, as we all know, Satan succeeds in tempting Eve to disobey that command resulting in the expulsion of both Adam and Eve from paradise (hence, the title of the poem).

Who is the protagonist of the poem? Is it God, the Son of God, Adam or Satan? Some say Satan is the true hero of the tale. Certainly, Milton’s Satan is very different from (say) the one in Dante’s Inferno - Milton’s Satan exhibits very human traits from anger to defiance to envy to cunningness. He embarks on an epic journey through the cosmos to get to Eden. He has no horns or tail. In many of the illustrations associated with Paradise Lost (eg. Gustave Dore’s woodcutting for the cover of this volume), Satan is depicted in human form and even has wings just like an angel). You have to make up your own mind.

This story dispels a popular misconception: the snake that seduces Eve is not actually Satan. It is in fact a serpent which “the Devil entered” in from the mouth (IX.188), in other words a serpent whose body Satan possesses. The serpent is nonetheless cursed subsequently by the Son of God for its role in tempting Eve (X.175 ff) and this curse is later transferred to Satan and his demons (IX.504 ff).

I feel sorry for Adam and Eve as it begins to dawn on them (Book X) how high the price they have to pay for their transgression - not only expulsion from paradise but death for them and all their descendants. This begs the question why God (if he is omnipotent and omnibenevolent) allows Eve to be tempted.


Themes

One of the big questions raised by this poem is divine determinism v free will. If God has foreknowledge that Adam and Eve will sin, why does he allow it. Milton answers this when God says: “I have made (mankind) just and right / Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall” (III.99-100).

I find Milton’s depiction of Eve misogynistic. Eve says to Adam :

“My author and disposer, what thou bidd’st Unargued I obey; so God ordains, God is thy Law, thou mine; to know no more Is women’s happiest knowledge and her praise.”(IV.635-638)

Try getting a modern woman to include that in her wedding vows!

Later, after the fall, the Son of God descends to sentence Adam and Eve and he admonishes Eve “... to thy husband's will / Thine shall submit, he over thee shall rule” (X.195-196).

The poem explores many religious, moral and even scientific themes - some very obscure. Milton’s writing style is very different from modern English. He makes use of allegories, extended similes, references and imagery. There is also a lot of unusual sentence construction. Take the famous first sentence that starts “Of man’s first disobedience ...” It is 16 lines long and the subject and verb are in line 6. For all these reasons, a well annotated edition is a must.


What about the book?

I find this translation readable. It has a useful introduction that includes a discussion of three “controversies” around this work, eg the debate over whether Milton’s depiction of Eve is misogynistic (I think it is!). There are also ample footnotes.


Finally ...

Receommended. But you need to be patient to work through the language. Make use of the footnotes.


Et cetera

The title of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is derived from the following passage:

“... Into this wild abyss, The womb of Nature and perhaps her grave, Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mixed, Confus’dly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless th’ Almighty Maker them ordain His dark materials to create more worlds ....” (II.910-916)