Paradise Lost

Lines 1-26

• Declares subject: humankind’s first act of disobedience toward God, and the consequences

• Adam and Eve’s eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis)

• Original sin brought death to human beings – lost our paradise – until Jesus comes

• Invokes the muse• Not the muses of Classical literature, but the

muse of Moses – the holy spirit• He will accomplish more than the classical

poets because his muse is greater than theirs (ambitious)

• Asks for help from the Holy Spirit (humble)

Line 26: Theme

• “To explain the ways of God to man”• Wants to show man that the fall of humankind

into sin and death was part of God’s greater plan

• Explains how Adam and Eve’s disobedience occurred – their actions were partly due to a serpent’s deception

• Serpent is Satan – we join he and his followers in Hell where they have just been cast after being defeated by God in Heaven

Introduction to Satan

• Satan lies stunned beside his second-in-command Beelzebub, in a lake of fire that gives off darkness instead of light.

• Breaking the awful silence, Satan bemoans his terrible position, but does not repent of his rebellion against God

• He suggests how they might gather their forces for another attack

• Beelzebub is doubtful• He now believes that God cannot be

overpowered.• Satan does not contradict him, but suggests

that they could at least pervert God’s good works to evil purposes

• The two devils rise up and spread their wings, fly over to the dry land next to the flaming lake

• They can do this only because God has allowed them to loose their chains

• All the devils were formerly angels who chose to follow Satan in his rebellion

• God still intends to turn their evil deeds toward the good

• Once out of the lake, Satan becomes more optimistic about their situation.

• He calls the rest of the fallen angels (his legions) to join him on land

• They immediately obey and, despite their wounds and suffering, fly up to gather on the plain

Catalog of Warriors

• Milton lists some of the more notable of the angels whose names have been erased from the books of Heaven

• He notes that in a later time, many of these devils will be worshipped as gods

• Moloch – requires human sacrifices• Belial – lewd and lustful

• Still in war gear, these fallen angels have thousands of banners raised and their shields and spears in hand

• Even in defeat they are awesome to behold

• Satan’s unrepentant evil nature is unwavering.• Even cast down in defeat, he does not

consider changing his ways: he insists to his fellow devils that their delight will be in doing evil, not good

• He explains to Beelzebub he wishes to pervert God’s will and find a way to make evil out of good

• It is not easy for Satan to maintain this determination; the battle has just demonstrated God’s overwhelming power, and the devils could not even have lifted themselves off the lake of fire unless God had allowed it

• God allows it precisely because he intends to turn their evil designs toward a greater good

• Satan’s envy of the Son’s chosen status led him to rebel and consequently to be condemned

• His continued envy and search for freedom leads him to believe that he would rather be a king in Hell than a servant in Heaven

• Satan’s pride has caused him to believe that his own free intellect is as great as God’s will

• Satan remarks that the mind can make its own Hell out of Heaven, or in his case, its own Heaven out of Hell (humanism)

• Satan addresses his comrades and acknowledges their shame in falling to the heavenly forces, but urges them to gather in order to consider whether another war is feasible

• Instantly the legions of devils dig into the bowels of the ground, unearthing gold and other minerals.

• With their inhuman powers, they construct a great temple in a short time (Pandemonium: all the demons)

• The hundreds of thousands of demonic troups gather there to hold a summit

• Being spirits, they can easily shrink from huge winged creatures to the smallest size – compacting themselves, they enter Pandemonium and the debate begins