Category: Paradise Lost

In Paradise Lost, John Milton attempts to fill in the theological and literary gaps in the Bible. One way that Milton does this is by expanding on the idea of the seven deadly sins; the sins include pride, wrath, sloth, greed, envy, gluttony, and lust. In the epic poem, a certain devil represents a specific sin. Satan, for example, displays the sin that leads to most other sins: pride. When he is under God, he grows jealous and feels he deserves more than what God bestowed to him. He gathers other angels and leads a rebellion; for this act of treason, God cast them all to Hell as punishment. Milton uses Satan and the devils’ need for revenge to showcase how they advocate for sin. In Book 2, Milton uses Moloch, Belial, and Mammon to represent the deadly sins wrath, sloth, and greed.

In Book 2, Satan gathers his army in Pandaemonium to hear ideas on how to get revenge against God. Moloch is the first to speak; he suggests that they go to war and use the weapons that they have gathered in hell against the “Torturer” God (Milton). He reasons that their lives cannot get any worse, so why not try to at least disrupt the peace of heaven and possibly wound God. In Moloch’s plan they still get revenge, even though they may not gain victory. The “strongest and fiercest Spirit that fought in Heav’n” wants to fight it out until the end (Milton). Moloch was one of the most belligerent warriors in the war, so it is fitting that he represents the sin wrath. He does not hide his anger towards God; because of this, his immediate reaction is to become violent.

Belial is the next to suggest an idea which contradicts that of Moloch. Belial’s plan is to simply stay put and do nothing. He argues that God is too well guarded and if they fight what are the chances that God can make it worse. He points out that they are currently sitting and peacefully debating instead of being chained to the lake of fire. So, if their “present lot appears for happy though but ill, for ill not worst,” why should they ask for more trouble by angering the “almighty victor” (Milton). Belial is a well-spoken devil and uses his witty way with words to try to get out of doing anything. He is a good example of the sin sloth because his plan may sound nice, but it is lazy for a warrior to want to do nothing.

After Belial, Mammon says that his idea for revenge is to stay put, but he suggests they can make a “Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n” by redecorating (Milton). He argues that there is no point of fighting because they could end up back in heaven and face oppression once again. He agrees that it is “better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven,’’ which is what Satan told Beelzebub in Book 1 (Milton). Mammon believes that they should focus on making the best of the power and riches that comes with Hell; he likes that they have freedom even if it comes with a price and he is not willing to give up anything, so the sin he best represents is greed. He believes that by redecorating Hell they can have both freedom and a nice place to live.

In attempt to fill in the theological and literary gaps in the Bible, Milton dives into each character and gives the reader a descriptive vision to provide a glimpse of how the devils think and feel. Milton makes the antagonist, Satan, one of the most dynamic characters in the poem. He gives the readers a chance to see how and why Satan accomplishes the fall of man. Milton uses the devils distinctively to personify the sins, providing the readers with an impression of what each sin looks like, and to warn them to try not to fall into the same mind set as the devils in the poem. By filling in those gaps, Milton attempts to answer questions people, himself included, have wanted to know since they first heard the stories from the Bible.

William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night and John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, challenge the traditional conservative views of women. Twelfth Night demonstrates a radical and powerful presentation of women as they control and dominate the actions of the characters and plot line. Paradise Lost provides an interpretation of the Biblical text of the fall of man, as the poem presents Eve as a heroic figure willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good. However, Twelfth Night and Paradise Lost fail to fully complete the task of presenting women as no longer inferior to men, as the female characters remain in a subordinate and oppressive state.

Literature shapes society’s values and attitudes by often challenging or reinforcing the ingrained beliefs about how one should act or feel. One of the most discussed topics in literature is how we think of women and gender relationships, with some writers providing an alternative perspective to the traditional conservative assumptions of women’s position within society, whilst others support the inferior status of women. In modern day society, we continue to strive towards obtaining gender equality for all; thus, by examining classic works such as Twelfth Night and Paradise Lost, we can assess how literature has progressed over the years, or determine if it has remained conservative. Although Twelfth Night and Paradise Lost are not seen as a natural pairing to compare due to their drastically different contexts, it is important to assess if Milton offers an interpretation on women and gender relationships that follows along the same lines of thought pioneered by Shakespeare.

Throughout this essay, I wish to show that both texts present a radical interpretation of women’s position in society by challenging traditional stereotypes and gender roles. However, Shakespeare presents a more progressive view as the play not only confronts traditional stereotypes of women, but also sexual relations and women disguising themselves as men. In comparison, Milton was confined to the restrictions of the Biblical text, as he could not drastically alter the events of the fall of man and the role of women.

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, there are three main female characters who perform a leading role in the plot development: Viola, Maria and Olivia. Literature prior and during the Renaissance period portrayed women with a lack of power and agency over the plot line, as men performed the leading roles and influenced the outcome of events. Women were viewed as inferior objects controlled by men who held little purpose other than the production of offspring. Women’s lack of social status and authority was reinforced by societies’ perception regarding their lack of intelligence and incapability to perform the same roles as men. However, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night challenges traditional beliefs of women’s social status by establishing the female characters with power and influence over others (including men), as the female characters are the main motivators of actions and the most complex. Shakespeare’s descriptions of women in Twelfth Night can be deemed as radical due its demonstration of a society in which women are no longer oppressed and instead hold power and authority.

Shakespeare provides Maria (a maiden at Lady Olivia’s household) with agency to construct the subplot of the play, driven by her hatred and animosity towards Malvolio, which led to his downfall. The scheme engineered by Maria reveals Malvolio’s intentions for falling in love with Olivia, as she wrote a letter addressed to Malvolio that tricked him into believing that Olivia had written a love letter expressing her feelings towards him. When Malvolio receives the letter he does not question whether he is being deceived by someone, and most definitely not a woman. Malvolio expresses his excitement after reading the letter “Remember who com- / ended thy yellow stockings and wish to see thee ever / cross-gartered” (2.5. 143–145). Malvolio’s desire to receive love and affection from Olivia stems from his powerful ambitions to become a member of the noble class. Maria’s affectionate letter fills Malvolio with hope of a better life, “I will wash off gross acquaintance, / I will be point-device the very man” (2.5.152-153). Maria demonstrates her power to persuade and control Malvolio’s emotions with the intention to make Malvolio suffer. The complexity of the sub-plot deepens as Maria collaborates with Feste to persuade Malvolio he is in a state of insanity. Maria locks Malvolio in a small dark chamber and Feste declares him a madman “Then you are mad indeed, if you be no better in your wits than a fool” (4.2. 88–89). Maria’s ability to control and manipulate a male character’s emotions and actions, emphasizes the radical change that Shakespeare suggests for women’s position within society. A society in which women are the agents of change and can exert power over those men who have dominated and caused women to live in a subordinate position.

Shakespeare describes Viola as a complex female character who challenges the gender identity norms by disguising herself as a man who works for the noble class and educates Orsino who resembles societies stereotypes regarding female inferiority by demonstrating the true nature of women as intelligent and powerful. Viola conceals her true identity to obtain work for the prestigious upper class, requesting the Captain to “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid / For such disguise as haply shall become / The form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke. / Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him.” (1.3. 51-54). Women disguising themselves as men, and vice versa, was not heard of nor pursued in the Renaissance period; thus, Shakespeare contests the role that gender performs in one’s identity and worth, as Viola becomes respected in her male disguise. Orsino represents the derogatory perceptions of women that society holds, as he expresses that women are unable to love and are inferior to men. Viola refutes the belief of female weakness by claiming “We men may say more, swear more, but indeed / Our shows are more than will; for still we prove / Much in our vows but little in our love” (2.4.116-118). Viola expresses that men make grand gestures and flatter women into falling in love, but their love is not sincere, nor more worthy than the love women express. Viola educates Orsino by refuting the belief that men are superior in love and courtship, as their love is no more genuine than women’s, thus, they are more equal than Orsino believes.

Shakespeare challenges the traditional gender relationships by proposing a society in which same-sex relationships could transpire. After the large climax of the play when Sebastian and Viola are reunited and the misunderstandings are resolved, Orsino confesses his love for Viola (Cesario). He declares his love and willingness to wed Viola “If this be so, as yet the glass seems true, / I shall have share in this most happy wrack. / Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand time / Thou never shouldst love woman like to me.” (5.1. 265–266). The gender confusion between Viola and her disguise as Cesario remains as Orsino addresses her as “Boy” in his love declaration, implying that he is attached to Viola’s masculine qualities that he is familiar with. Shakespeare has structured this into Orsino’s speech for the reader to question who he is in love with, the beautiful young man Cesario, or the beautiful young women Viola. For a man to fall in love with another man would be abhorrent and frowned upon by Renaissance society as same-sex relationships were not accepted nor explained in literature. Therefore, Shakespeare proposes a society in which there are same-sex relationships, confirming that Twelfth Night is a progressive text that defies conservative societal life.

Twelfth Night assesses the power of gender roles and relationships within courtship through the actions of Viola, Olivia and Orsino. During Viola’s (as Cesario) first encounter with Olivia, she is instructed to repeat the prepared speech by Orsino. Instead, Viola (as Cesario) tells Olivia what she would do if she was in love with her: “Make me a willow cabin at your gate / And call upon my soul within the house, / Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love, / And sing them loud even in the dead of night; / Hallow your name to the reverberate hills,” (1.5. 254-258). Viola (as Cesario) is suggesting that she would be outside of Olivia’s gate day and night expressing her love. Shakespeare explores the rich implications of women understanding and dominating a relationship of love by demonstrating high levels of understandings of what women desire. This contrasts the initial representation of women’s capability to love and present passion towards men that Orsino expresses in the opening scenes. Shakespeare is reinforcing the possibility of same sex relationships, as with Orsino falling in love with Viola (as Cesario) in her masculine form, Olivia develops feelings for Viola (as Cesario) as her true identity being a female.

Furthermore, Shakespeare demonstrates Viola’s power to influence others with her ability to persuade Olivia to remove herself from a state of mourning and hiding. Based on Viola (as Cesario’s) request, “Lady, you are the cruel’stshe alive / If you will lead these graces to the grave / And leave the world nocopy” Olivia removes her veil and reveals herself (1.5. 227-229). This symbolic moment represents Olivia’s transition from grieving the death of her brother to being present in the living world. Shakespeare demonstrates the power and influence that women can have on others, that they are able to change the course of actions, and are not just mere unintelligent humans with the sole purpose to reproduce.

However, upon close examination of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare fails to end the poem in a progressive nature, as the women in the play return to their subordinate and oppressive state within society. In the final scenes of the play, it is revealed that Maria marries Sir Toby, Olivia marries Sebastian, and Viola marries Orsino. Although the female characters had a moment of freedom, during which they obtained power and control, escaping form their subordinate position, they eventually returned to an oppressive patriarchal institution that subordinate’s women into serving and being dominated by their husbands. Although, Shakespeare provides a radical and progressive view of women throughout the production of the play, the play returns to a conservative and oppressive position of women.

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Milton’s Paradise Lost are both great works from the Renaissance era that open up non-traditional ways of thinking about the place of women within society. Twelfth Night is a play set outside of England in a fantasy world that is a parallel to the country and societal life by which Shakespeare experiments new ways of living and thinking. The imaginary setting of Twelfth Night permits Shakespeare to suggest new ideas about how one should live life and the possibility of new gender roles and relationships. In comparison, Paradise Lost is providing an alternative representation about one of the core ‘myths,’ meaning the story that we as a society believe in and use as a blueprint for our way of thinking and as guide to how we should act. Milton is dealing with charged material regarding the fall of man that he is unable to change; however, there is an attempt to divert society’s attention away from the conservative traditional thinking of women. Twelfth Night and Paradise Lost are bound together by their effort to raise awareness about the discriminatory and prejudiced views about the place of women within society. Women become empowered during certain parts of the play and the poem providing them with control and agency over others. Shakespeare pioneers an interpretation of gender roles and relationships that Milton has the opportunity to develop in the poem Paradise Lost. Shakespeare displays a society whereby women are categorized as smart, powerful and the agents of change. Olivia is smart and intelligent as shown in her ability to maintain order within her household and delegate the responsibility of work. Likewise, Maria and Viola embody their power and demonstrate their abilities to create change as Maria provides a subplot for the play and Viola exerts power over Orsino’s way of thinking. Therefore, by comparing Twelfth Night against Paradise Lost raises the question: does Milton provide a progressive piece of literature similar to the works of Shakespeare?

Paradise Lost details the events of Adam and Eve’s fall from the Garden of Eden, whilst presenting a different interpretation of the traditional Biblical text of the fall of man. Milton’s version of the fall of man challenges the conservative ways of thinking about the place of women and gender roles within society. Although Milton does not change the entire story of the fall of man, he evokes a new way of perceiving it. Paradise Lost provides a complex perspective regarding the culpability of Eve in the fall of man, as the in-depth analysis of the events mitigate her responsibility and reduce the blame worthiness of her actions.

However, Milton remains to represent the traditional stereotypes of women as inferior and subordinate to men due to their lack of intelligence and spiritual purity. Upon initial examination of Adam and Eve’s relationship, it is apparent that Eve is subordinate and inferior to Adam based on the circumstances from which they are created, which asserts the dominant position of man, as Adam was created from God’s image. Whereas Eve was created based on Adam’s request, “Of fellowship I speak / Such as I seek, fit to participate / All rational delight, wherein the brute / Cannot be human consort; they rejoice,” and God grants Adam’s desire of having a companion (8. 389-392). Eve is created from Adam’s rib, suggesting that she is already inferior as her creation was from man, whereas Adam’s is formed by God. It is also important to examine the awakening of Adam and Eve.

Adam recalls his awakening to Raphael “Soft on the flow’ry herb I found me laid / In balmy sweat, which with his beams the sun” (8. 254-255). He woke in the surrounding of sunlight and God aware of who he is and knowledgeable about Earth. Conversely, Eve woke up alone in the shade, “I first awakened, and found myself reposed / Under a shade of flowers, much wond’ring where” (4. 450-45). Evidently, God did not bestow upon Eve the same knowledge as Adam, as she is unaware of her identity and her surroundings; therefore, their awakenings reinforces the female inferior and subordinate position within society. Not only did Eve wake in the shade, whereas Adam in the sun, but her misunderstanding of the reflection she sees in the water, with which she becomes mesmerized with, demonstrates her vanity and foolishness. Eve’s depiction as described by Milton emphasizes the patriarchal society which operates to dominate women and label them as inferior.

Furthermore, Milton compares the importance of Adam and Eve, concluding that Adam holds more spiritual purity and importance in comparison to Eve, reinforcing her subservient position. Milton assesses the different roles that Adam and Eve acquired, “Not equal, as thir sex not equal seem’d; / For contemplation hee and valor form’d, / For softness shee and sweet attractive Grace, / Hee for God only, shee for God in him:” (4. 295–311). Adam is perceived to be more spiritually pure as he was created from God, in comparison to Eve who was created for Adam’s pleasure, suggesting that Eve is further away from God’s grace. Milton’s assessment implies that gender roles are unequal and imbalanced, further suggesting that the Bible promotes unequal roles by proposing that the female is of lesser importance, causing her to submit to man. Milton explicitly states that Eve is a subordinate figure to Adam, “Of nature her th’ inferior, in the mind / And inward faculties, which most excel” (8. 541-542). This inferiority and dominance that Adam holds over Eve is reinforced throughout Paradise Lost, however, there are moments that demonstrate an alternative way to address Eve’s position.

Upon close examination of Paradise Lost, it is apparent that Milton challenges and explores a different interpretation of the Biblical texts in regards to how we view women. Milton provides three different interpretations of Eve: Satan’s perspective, Adam’s perspective and Eve’s perspective on herself. Satan views Eve as inferior and subordinate to Adam’s command, by which he rules and dominates her actions. Satan claims that they are not equal as Adam governs Eve, “Not equal, as their sex not equal seem’d;/For contemplation hee and valour form’d,/ For softness shee and sweet attractive Grace,/ Hee for God only, shee for God in him;/ His fair large Front and Eye sublime declar’d/ Absolute rule”(4. 294–99). Milton includes the Satan’s view of Eve to highlight that this misogynistic wrong view of women is the product of the fallen mind. Milton provides Eve with the status of the first love poem writer on Earth which immediately grants her status and power. In this love poem it is implied that she sees herself as inferior to Adam, but is content in her status “to know no more / Is a woman’s happiest knowledge and her praise” (4. 637-638). However, Milton could be posing that the lower social status and importance that Eve has been provided leads her to believe she is of less worthiness in comparison to Adam.

In the closing two lines of her love poem, Eve questions what the stars are suggesting that she wishes to learn more “But wherefore all night long shine these, for whom / This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes?” (4. 657-658). Milton is implying that women are inquisitive and wish to become more knowledgeable, rejecting previous assumptions of women being incompetent and unable to acquire more information. Similarly, Milton provides Adam’s interpretation of Eve as he wishes to have an equal who he could share his thoughts and joy with and develop a companionship. He wishes to have a companion who he shares reason and intellect with, as the animals in the Garden of Eden do not possess such attributes. Therefore, Milton implies that Adam desires an equal companion but Eve’s qualities hold less importance in comparison to Adam due to their creation and connection with God.

Furthermore, Paradise Lost mitigates Eve’s culpability and blame regarding the fall of man, by suggesting that Adam persuades himself to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam realizes that he cannot live without Eve and begins encouraging himself to join her in sin, “From this delightful fruit, nor known till now / True relish, tasting; if such pleasure be / In things to us forbidden it might be wished, / For this one tree had been forbidden ten.” (9. 1023-1026). As Adam decides to eat from the Tree of Knowledge with little influence from Eve, Milton suggests that we cannot blame women for the entire destruction of the fall of man and we cannot continue to blame women for our setbacks in life, as Adam performed the same role as Eve in their sins. Paradise Lost presents Eve as a resemblance of Jesus’s sacrifice earlier in the poem, as she is willing to give her life in redemption for eating from the Tree of Knowledge, demonstrating her strength, power and selflessness. Milton depicts Eve as a heroic figure as she wishes to accept full responsibility and blame as she recognizes her choices of disobeying God “On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe, / Me me only just object of his ire” (10. 935-936). In doing so, she is prepared to receive God’s anger and punishment to prevent Adam from suffering. However, it is possible that Eve’s desire to eat from the Tree of Knowledge was rooted in her characteristics of inferiority and naivety. God gave her these characteristics which developed her vulnerability to be persuaded by Satan to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Satan uses his flattery “A goddess among gods, adored and served” to gain Eve’s trust and manipulate her into disobeying Gods wishes (9. 547). Therefore, it is suggested that if Eve were a man, she would not have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge as she would not have been so naive to give into temptation.

To conclude, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Milton’s Paradise Lost represent the progressive views of gender roles and relationships, through the embodiment of the character’s actions and descriptions. Twelfth Night provides a radical interpretation on challenging the traditional and conservative views that oppress women and confine them to a subordinate position. Shakespeare pioneers his work to allow other writers to expand upon his presentation of a society in which women have more equality and control. Milton’s Paradise Lost attempts to incorporate the characteristics of women being smart, intelligent and the agents of change, as presented in Twelfth Night, but is restricted to elaborate due to the confinements of the Biblical texts. Therefore, although Paradise Lost can be seen as a progressive text, there is still an apparent chain of command regarding certain attributes of Eve’s descriptions and actions that remain conservative and traditional. Overall, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night remains the most progressive due to its radical and challenging nature of traditional gender stereotypes.

Works Cited

1. Milton, John. Paradise Lost. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2018.
2. Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2018.

The instinct to control others is indeed natural for characters in John Webster’s ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ and John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’. Both Webster and Milton explore the control one exerts over women through Ferdinand and Adam’s desire to control the females, the control of those at a lower status illustrated through the religious figureheads of both works, the Cardinal and God. However, it can be argued that the instinct to control is not a natural inclination especially for women, but rather their desire to break free from patriarchal restraint is more of a defining characteristic in both works. Overall, it is clear that, Webster and Milton explore the ideas of control and authority in a variety of ways.

One of the most fundamental aspects of both Webster and Milton’s works is their presentation of the dominant, controlling force of patriarchy, which during the 17th century, illustrating the control of women to be a natural course of action to take. In ‘The Duchess of Malfi’, women were seen to be “cursed creatures” who were “unequal in nature” with their “heart so far upon her left side”. As far back as the Zohar, a foundational text of Jewish mysticism, Judeo-Christian religions attributed the left with femininity and inferiority, as Eve appeared on and developed from Adam’s left side. From the beginning of the play, Ferdinand and the Cardinal attempt to prevent the Duchess from marrying again, telling her that “those must luxurious will wed twice”, so that she would remain in obedient to them instead of another man. Ferdinand, upon realizing that the Duchess disobeyed her brothers and re-married, calls her a “strumpet” and is shown to actively criticize her, with the derogatory language stemming from his inability to successfully have the Duchess under control. The play, as Jankowski outlines, illustrates the “conflicting claims of the Duchess’ body natural and body politic”, and this is illustrated in Ferdinand’s irrational, obsessive desire to control the Duchess. His anger, despite being primarily motivated by lust and incestuous obsession, perhaps reflects the dissent of the parliamentarians who, in light of the ascension of female rulers such as Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I, were dissatisfied and doubtful as women, who were considered to be “weak, frail, impatient, feeble and foolish”. Knox (1558) were placed above them as the monarch. An example where physical control is exerted over the Duchess is during her imprisonment, whereby her words “Pity! With such a pity men preserve alive pheasants and quails, when they are not fat enough to be eaten”, expresses her frustration towards her inferior stance as a female that leads to the control that her brothers are able to exert over her. Whilst Webster explores control exerted over an actively defiant female, Milton presents instances where men are criticizes for not being able to exert control over women. In ‘Paradise Lost’, Adam is described to have been “in delight both of her (Eve’s) beauty and submissive charms” and “smiled with superior love”. Adam, in accordance to the Great Chain of Being, was placed above Eve in the hierarchy, and therefore, his inability to control her and guide her as the more rational and superior gender incites criticism from God. He, when Adam was “fondly overcome with female charm”, tells Adam: “Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place wherein God set thee above her made of thee”. Despite Milton’s emphasis of having “intimate and speaking help”, and the benefits of a “ready and reviving associate in marriage’ in ‘A Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce’, he was not advocating for equality, instead suggested that this “reviving associate” was illustrated under the basis of women still inherently being inferior to men. Female inferiority is established in God’s words after the Fall: “to thy husband’s will, thine shall submit, he over thee shall rule”, and his emphasis on the gender hierarchy illustrates the complete control and authority men have over women, but for Adam, God’s words could also serve as a reminder for Adam to exert his proper control and authority over Eve to prevent further corruption and destruction taking place. Overall, it can be argued that the control and authority exerted over females was a typical course of action to take during the 17th century as men believed this to be their natural right in light of their intellectual superiority over females.

Another way in which Webster and Milton depict control and authority in their works is by illustrating the control and authority that religious figureheads seem to hold within both works. Webster sheds light on the power that the Cardinal holds, as a religious figurehead who somewhat parallels God in ‘The Duchess of Malfi’. The Cardinal, throughout the play, contrasts with Ferdinand in showing his calm but manipulative character, that Antonio describes as “plum trees” that “lay crooked over standing pools which are rich, and o’erladen with fruit”, whereas “none but crows, pies and caterpillars feed on them”. The Cardinal’s corrupt character is expressed in his manipulation of Julia, where he tells her: “thy curiosity Hath undone thee: I knew thou couldst not keep my counsel, I have bound thee to’t by death”, and killing her with a poisoned Bible. Antonio comments that the “Prince’s court” is “like a common fountain” and “if’t chance some cursed example poison’t near the head, death and diseases through the whole land spread”. This notion can be relayed onto Webster’s illustration of the Cardinal, who, as the ‘cursed example’, was created by Webster to embody the stereotype of cruel, hypocritical, corrupt Catholics as articulated in Martin Luther’s ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ in 1517. There were great conflicts over Catholicism during Webster’s lifetime such as the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and King Charles’ fight against Catholic powers in Europe before 1630. Catholic priests would take in the tithing money and keep it to themselves. Whilst Webster illustrates the power and authority a corrupt religious figure has, Milton sheds light on the power of God, who, despite not being human, acts as the divine authority who is able to control and judge his creations. God’s role as the divine authority in ‘Paradise Lost’ is presented in an interesting way, especially in light of the Fall of humanity caused due to their free will. The God of Christian theology is viewed as an omnipotent, omniscient being, and his power is exemplified through his illustration as a figure behind ‘clouds’ with a shrouding ‘light’, magnifying his divine authority that distances himself from humans. God’s authority over Satan, the catalyst of the Fall, is illustrated as Satan and his followers turn into serpents who create a “dismal, universal hiss” after recognizing that “a greater power (God) now ruled him”. God’s power over Satan through his metamorphosis is demonstrated. Whilst his punishment of Satan may be just, it can be questioned to what extent God is able to exert his authority over his creations, and whether this authority is justified at all. Milton presents a complex, seemingly just but questionable image of the divine authority, and to a more secularized, contemporary audience, the illustration of the dissent towards God’s authority and control can be justified, especially in light of the debate between free will and determinism. Milton’s portrayal of God, at times, reflects his views on the monarchy itself, as his belief in the freedom of speech, often conflicted with Charles I’s extremely constrictive, restraining rule where he limited Parliament’s access to the King and limited the Church in their spendings and services. Instead of portraying God to be an infallible authority figure, Milton’s interesting illustration of God, perhaps reflecting his critical views on the Divine Right of Kings that James I emphasized: “Kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, but even by God himself they are called Gods” (1609). As Milton expressed his dissent towards the monarchy, ‘Eikonoklastes’ was written as a rebuttal of Charles’ Eikon Basilike, where Milton argues that if the King does not portray attributes of a ‘good’ king, then the people have the right to take him down from the throne. Milton claimed in ‘Eikonoklastes’ that all monarchs had the potential to become tyrants, no matter how benevolent they may appear, contrasting with the sympathy that was aroused through Charles’ Eikon Basilike that illustrated the monarch to be a noble martyr. ‘The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates’ in 1649 (which was not published until after his death) urged the abolition of a tyrannical kingship and the execution of tyrants. Milton echoed this argument consistently throughout his time, and in his ‘Defense of the English People Against Salmasius’ (1651), he carries forward the notion that the execution of a monarch is supported by authorities from Classical antiquity to the early modern era, and the tyrannical nature of Charles I’s sovereignty justified his death. Whilst Milton wrote ‘Paradise Lost’ to ‘justify the ways of God to man’, it is evident that, in his portrayal of divine authority that conflicts with free will, his depiction of God can be considered as an alternative interpretation to the omniscient, all-perfect God of Christian theology. Overall, Milton and Webster’s interesting portrayals of powerful, authoritative religious figureheads demonstrate that the instinct to control free beings is indeed natural.

However, it can be argued that Webster and Milton present an alternative illustration of authority and control, presenting their females, such as the Duchess and Eve, to not actively seek for control but to break free from male control. The Duchess pursues freedom from her brothers’ control by marrying Antonio in secret, telling him, “Do not worry”, and that the tempest, being her brothers, shall reside. It can be argued that the Duchess’ pursuit of freedom offers a utopian alternative of social transformation against the scandalous marriage between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Frederick in 1613. Though dependent on context and reception, it can be argued that contemporary audiences are more likely to view the Duchess as a feminist icon, proving that ambition may be noble. The English Civil War and the Interregnum also that prompted female royalists and revolutionists to take on new roles in absence of husbands. The Duchess’ active desire for freedom through rem-marriage parallels’ that of Elizabeth I’s exertion of power by her refusal to marry, declaring that “I am already bound unto a husband which is the Kingdom of England”. This was an example of her commitment to ruling the country and her refusal to follow the traditional ideas about womanhood, where marriage was seen as natural and obligatory. Elizabeth’s words that, “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king”, parallels Bate’s notion that the widow, then was the joker in the pack, the wild card who was not obliged to play by the sexual and social rules. In Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, this character is a free agent. She acts instead of being acted on; she delights in setting a plot, where both women are shown to exert their control and declare their freedom through sexual autonomy. Similar to the Duchess’ active defiance of the control and authority exerted on her, Eve’s desire for greater intellectual capacity can be translated into her attempting to overcome the natural control that Adam is able to exert over her through intellectual inferiority. Eve, after eating the fruit, contemplates and asks whether she should “keep the odds of Knowledge in my power without Copartner?”, and despite her desire for power partially coming from her desire to gain Adam’s affection, she believes that by eating the fruit herself it would “render me (her) more equal”, which is “a thing not undesirable, sometime superior”, adding “For inferior who is free?”. Eve’s defiance of Adam is also highlighted in her words, “Was I to have never parted from thy side? As good have grown there still a lifeless Rib. Being as I am, why didst thou the Head command me absolutely not to go?”, which illustrates Eve’s acknowledgement of Adam’s greater power.

‘The female is nothing but the body.’ Following your study of Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale and Milton’s Paradise Lost, how far do you think that women are presented as inferior to men in each text?

The texts examined in this essay, Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale1 All references are from Hussey M ed., 1975, The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale, Cambridge, CUP. and Milton’s Paradise Lost2 All references are form Fowler A ed., 1984, Paradise Lost, USA, Longman , both explore the role of women in their respective societies, whether it was influenced by Milton’s Puritan faith values or the general standard of literature that validated the frailties of women in the 14th century. To understand what is meant by the statement ‘the female is nothing but the body’, we need to explore its interpretation in several ways: the idea of women as a domestic body or secondly as a sexual object, but also the Biblical idea found in St Paul’s writing that considered the man as the dominator in a marriage, just as the head is to the body. Although both writers downplay their chauvinism, Chaucer and Milton do inherently to a greater or lesser extent see and portray women primarily in physical rather than in complete terms, thereby showing themselves to be truly men of their times.

Both texts, Paradise Lost and The Merchant’s Tale explore the idea of women being moulded by their male partners. The view Milton presents through Januarie in The Merchant’s Tale is that May is the object, the body, that Januarie can mould for his domestic and sexual purposes. The mirror simile episode introduces Januarie’s way of thinking as ‘Many fair shap and many a fair visage/ Ther passeth thurgh his herte nyght by nyght’ through “a mirour, polisshed bryght… in a commune market-place”, which is simply a reflection of his personal desires, not actually real women and equally doesn’t engage with a woman’s depth or personality but rather is just an “impresse” of reality. The emphasis on the mirror being well polished suggests Januarie has a very refined, exact, deluded idea of how he sees women and what they can do for him. The idea of women being moulded by their male partners is more overtly explored through the use of the word “wax”. When Januarie describes what he’s seeking in a wife, he states that he wants one that “Right as men may warm wex with handes plye” (218). The implication is undeniable that men are expected to mould their wives to their rules and ideals and women are expected to be malleable in this way. However, it is ironic that Januarie seeks this and May seems to adhere to this expectation but the reader, in a case of dramatic irony, observes Januarie being manipulated and controlled by his supposedly “fresshe” wife, ridiculing him. Chaucer makes the point that wives should be obedient and led by their husbands with allusions to other tales: The Clerk’s Tale is about an infinitely obedient wife, Griselda, who is obscenely tested by her husband to show her subjection to his will, even to acceptance of her children being taken away. Although it is problematic in reading the author’s viewpoint through his tales, we can turn to The Franklin’s Tale that purported to be closest to Chaucer’s heart. Yet, even here, the wife says to her husband that he is “hir lord,/ Of swich lordship as men han over her wyves” (Franklin’s Tale 34-58)3 Accessed through internet site http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm (viewed January 2014) . Although Arveragus is more benign in his mastership, the relationship between him and his wife, Dorigen, is still hierarchical and based on the husband’s initiative. Therefore, whilst Chaucer does validate the frailties of women as most literature of his time does, he simultaneously presents less conformist and more independent thinking women.

Equally, in Paradise Lost, Eve is shaped, moulded and controlled by the man. And although Eve is said to be, with Adam, “Godlike” (IV.288-293), it is made expressly clear that she should be controlled by the man as “Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed… He for God only, she for God in him.” (IV. 296, 299). Any equality is undermined by the hierarchy between Adam and Eve. Just as in The Merchant’s Tale where one senses that Chaucer is disquieted by the infidelity of May, so Milton shows how Eve’s independence of mind leads to disaster. Eve shows her resistance to Adam’s command in Paradise Lost as “Eve/ Persisted… from her husband’s her hand/ Soft she withdrew” (IX. 376-7). The repetition of the personal pronoun ‘her’ subtly hints at her independence yet the adjective “soft” reiterates her position as a woman. We also see Eve questioning herself, in her own personal thought, “If this be our condition, thus to dwell/ In narrow circuit… How are we happy?” which although is about Satan, one could interpret that Eve is speaking about being confined by Adam. This leads to her being seduced by Satan and the couple’s expulsion from Eden and Adam blames his wife in strong words of association of Eve with evil caused by her independent ear: “ O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give ear/ To that false worm…” (IX. 1067). This view that woman is to blame for the Fall supports S Erickson’s view that Paradise Lost shows “but Milton’s putative aversion to women”4 Sandra S. Fernandes Erickson: The Ethics of Gender in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Accessed through internet (Jan 10) originally from the journal: Principios: Revista de Filosofia 1998 Volume: 05- Issue 06 . This may be an extreme view 5 ‘Milton stresses… not the inequality of Adam and Eve, but their matching each other.’ Mike Edwards: John Milton: Paradise Lost (Analysing Texts) Palgrave Macmillan (2013) but nonetheless shows that Milton is bound by his Puritan acceptance of Biblical teaching: “It was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God’s law” (I Timothy 2:14)6 Milton would know also of the Apocrypha text, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), although not being in the Protestant Bible would not have so much authority: ‘From a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die.’ (25:24) . This critique translates into women seeming less competent and intelligent than men even though Eve does have some power over her supposed superior. Adam, initially feeling the effects of his solitude, asks God to create for him a partner of his own image so God “formed and fashioned with his hands;/ under his forming hands a creature grew,/ Manlike, but different sex” and Eve is described to Adam as “thy likeness, thy fit help, thy other self”. This purposefully shows us initially that Eve is created through Adam and this could suggest both that she is a lesser, inferior version of Adam or at the same time that she is Adam’s likeness and is therefore equal. The repetition of Word Count: 987

“thy” implies Eve belongs to Adam, as if God created Eve for him as entertainment. Adam was formed from nothing, from the creation of God’s image but Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs which suggests Adam’s superiority as Eve wouldn’t exist without him. Furthermore, the circumstances of their awakening, with Adam having the sun shining down on him as opposed to Eve with only a pool of water in her surroundings. The allegoric pool of water is used to emphasize her inferiority, becoming enraptured by her own beauty and so implying her narcissism and foolishness. This general image of women could be said to be a consequence of the patriarchal society Milton lived in where Eve was the first woman affected by this.

The Merchant’s Tale presents women as second class and as a domestic body as compared to Paradise Lost. The concentration on the woman’s body, in The Merchant’s Tale, leads to the idea that the wife is the domestic “servant” with all her concerns to be for the husband’s welfare as “She nys nat wery hym to love and serve” (79). This emphasizes that women are really not supposed to feel for themselves if it doesn’t benefit her husband and the verbs “love” and “serve” also exaggerate her diminutive status. May is also implicated in the tiresome description Januarie provides of his expectations of women and their roles as wives: “She kepeth his good, and wasteth never a deel… She seith nat ones “nay”, whan he seith “ye”./ “Do this,” seith he; “Al redy, sire,” seith she.” Evidently May is a domestic body who is to show submission to Januarie’s rule and he takes it further than submission but more of women as a virtual servant to wait on him in his dotage. In this passage there is an echo of the marriage vows, and this shows that Januarie sees marriage as a righteous institution but also justifies his view of women through biblical references. In his mind the ideal wife will be akin to “seinte Marie”- virtuous, chaste and ready to tend to his every need. Similarly, in Paradise Lost, although Adam and Eve seem to work the garden equally, Milton cannot get round the myth that Eve was created out of Adam’s rib as his help-mate. She too is to submit to his will: “My author and disposer, what thou bid’st/ Unargued I obey” (IV. 635-636). It has been argued that Milton had an enlightened view of marriage7 ‘We must constantly remind ourselves of the greatness of both personnages.’ She is ‘the Queen of earth’ C S Lewis: A Preface to Paradise Lost chp. XVI. 1963 reprint OUP. ; there is evidence for this8 In his essay, Doctrine & Discipline of Divorce, Milton writes that the purpose of marriage is in the main for ‘the apt and cheerfull conversation of man with woman.’ Book I; accessed through Luxon, Thomas H., ed. The Milton Reading Room, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton. Jan 2014 and the relationship of Adam and Eve seems o be more mutual than that of Januarie and May, yet still Milton is not able to break free of his puritan teaching that women are to be servants of their husbands alluding in book IV to biblical passages that identify man as the master of woman: “He is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man… Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (I Corinthians 11:7, 9).

Women being seen as bodies rather than minds is illustrated in Milton’s Paradise Lost and reinforces the hierarchy between them and men: husbands have their minds on higher things; women have their brains hardwired for domesticity. Adam with “His fair large front and eye sublime [that] declared/ Absolute rule” (IV. 300-1) contrasts Eve described focusing on her body with “She as a veil down to the slender wasit/ Her unadorned golden tresses wore/ Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved/ As the vine curls her tendrils…” (IV. 304-8). The use of sibilance and assonance in this description exaggerates Eve’s sensuality and makes the focus on her body seem more idyllic and softer than the harsher description of Adam that is more overpowering and masterful. Milton’s description of Adam focuses on his head, suggesting Adam’s most important characteristic is his intellect; Eve’s “unadorned golden tresses” pull his focus away from her head to her entire body, implying her primary characteristic is her beauty and grace. Eve’s description shows her body partially covered and her hair natural and wild which symbolizes disorder, implying that she needs a man’s control to be put in order. It has been said that Adam shows a strong interest in profound subjects when he talks with the archangel Raphael (IV. 15-40) and Eve prefers to participate in conversations that are not entirely abstract, but more-so include touching and feeling (VIII. 52-57)9 Luxon, Thomas H., ed. The Milton Reading Room, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton, accessed January 14. . So although Milton pictures Eve in majestic terms10 Note VIII 59-61 on Eve: ‘With Goddess-like demeanour forth she went; not unattended, for on her as queen, A pomp of winning graces waited still’ , Adam is seen as closer to God and more capable of discourse with God than Eve; he is the spiritual- she lives in the realm of the senses. To understand why Milton does not stray from this idea of Adam- Eve as akin to head-body we need to remember that Milton belongs to the Puritan faith that could not challenge biblical teaching such as that of I Corinthians 11:3 where St.Paul writes, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” The fact that a woman is not mentioned as such but rather a wife shows that women were not supposed to have any other purpose than to be a wife and to ‘serve’ her superior part, her husband. Moreover, as Eve is portrayed as easier to fool, allowing her to be tricked into eating the fruit and blamed for the fall of Paradise. This detracts from her significance for her mind and shows even her body is a liability- Satan appealed to her beauty to gain her trust. What is more often overlooked, is that fact that Eve convinces Adam to eat the fruit much faster, implying that not only is Eve not as subordinated and naive as she is made out but also that Adam, who was “fondly overcame with female charm”, is not so superior to Eve as a rational and intelligent being- he is taken in easily by female charms and Eve holds a certain power over Adam that even God cannot transcend, although this inherently links back to Eve’s power and worth being held in her body.

Women are portrayed as sexual bodies in both The Merchant’s Tale and Paradise Lost. Serving the needs of the husband, includes ministering to his sexual desires, but The Merchant’s Tale highlights this in offensive tones whereas Paradise Lost openly writes of the mutuality of sexual desire. Januarie confesses “Allas! I moot trespace/ To yow, my spouse, and yow greetly offende,/ Er tyme come that I will doun descende.” (616-18). Januarie, because of his lust, offends and trespasses on what should be love-making; this is displayed in the clever use of harsh sounds ‘k’ and ‘br’: “he kisseth hire fu ofte; With thikke brustles of his berd unsofte,/ Lyk to the skyn of houndfyssh, sharp as brere” (611-13). It is a violation of May and of what true loving marriage should be11 E. Talbot Donaldson, ‘Speaking of Chaucer’ 1970: ‘A sour note sounds again in the wedding of January and May. No marriage ceremony should be taking place between this ill-matched couple.’ ; she appears to be just a body, a sex doll, passively taken to the bed, “broght abedde as stille as stoon” (606). This is an unpleasant labour of lust12 ‘Thus laboureth he til that the day gan dawe.’ MT. 630 in which the roughness of the night corresponds with the harshness of how Januarie acts with May “Night with his mantel” is “derk and rude” (586)13 Contrast the epithalamium or marriage song in PL VIII: 510-52: ‘fresh gales and gentle airs/ Whispered it to the woods, and from their wings/ Flung rose’ with its wonderful alliteration and clever play on the word ‘airs’ in the sense of wind and the sense of music. . Moreover, the feeling of coldness and passivity, emphasized by the sibilance, comes close to a description of rape, reminding us of the rape in the Wife of Bath tale. However, even May reduces herself to a sexual body; May turns out not to be the sexual victim but also the sexual predator and manipulator reaching its climax in the garden of love with her copulating with Damyan in a pear tree. The context is the debasing of the concept of courtly love, the dignified admiration of a knight for his lady; a signal of this debasement is found when May thrusts Damyan’s love letter down the “pryvee” (742). Contrastingly, in Paradise Lost, sexuality and eroticism are seen paradoxically in positive terms, as the couple make love before the Fall, it is clearly the opposite to that of Damyan and May: “not… loveless, joyless, unendeared,/ Casual fruition, nor in court amours…” (IV. 764-7) In having a view that Adam and Eve have sex before the fall, he challenges the teaching of the Church which tried to suppress female sexuality. The church was deeply suspicious of sexuality in general but more particularly female sexuality. Milton boldly asserts that Adam and Eve enjoyed a full and fruitful sexual relationship and writes, “Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed, Then was not guilty shame, dishonest shame/ Of nature’s works, honour dishonourable” (IV. 312
-4); the oxymoron in the last two words shows how Milton feels that Church’s views of eroticism are mistaken.

Compared to The Merchant’s Tale, the woman in Paradise Lost is described in a more dignified way but at the same time Milton uses Eve’s sexuality and consequent narcissism and naivete to make her seem foolish, inferior and weak. The description of Eve in book IV sexualizes her through her body being partially covered but erotically pictured as “half her swelling Breast/ Naked” (IV. 495-6), her hair disheveled and wild and her yielding resistance to love-making: “Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, And sweet reluctant amorous delay.” (IV. 310). As Peter Western argued, “In the seventeenth century, female coyness, or sexual refusal was more sexually exciting for men than it is commonly thought to be today”14 Peter Western: Penguin Critical Studies: Paradise Lost 1990 pg. 105 . It is difficult to see how someone pre-Fallen should practice “amorous delay” and “when Adam leads Eve, who is “blushing like the morn”, to the nuptial bower, it is hard to understand why a person with no sexual experience, let alone shame or guilt, should blush” (VIII. 511)15 Peter Western op. Cit. 105 . This concentration on Eve’s sensual nature allows her to be nothing but an eroticized creature, someone without independence of mind as we have seen16 From Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (London, 1792): ‘when he (Milton) tells us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace (PL IV. 298), I cannot comprehend his meaning, unless… he meant to deprive us of souls, and insinuate that we were beings only designed by sweet attractive grace, and docile blind obedience, to gratify the sense of man when he can no longer soar on the wing of contemplation.’ . Furthermore, it undercuts Milton’s wish to show that there is such a thing as physical love-making which is pure: “Hail wedded love… reason, loyal, just and pure” (IV. 750, 755). It seems that in describing Eve’s sensuous qualities, Milton shows his masculine 17th century prejudices. It is hard to deny the conclusion of Erickson: “Lust is made a clear motivation for the Fall, as in Book IX when the Serpent flatters Eve with the words, ‘thy celestial Beauty adore/ With ravishment beheld, there best beheld…’ (IX. 541-542). The implication is that Eve is not a modest, honest wife, satisfied with love and admiration of her husband, but a brazen hussy seeking admirers.”17 Sandra S. Fernandes Erickson: THE ETHICS OF GENDER IN MILTON’S PARADISE LOST. Accessed through internet (Jan 10) originally from the journal: Principios: Revista de Filosofia 1998 Volume: 05- Issue: 06 Eve is perhaps portrayed as sexually greedy for the needs of the body. Similarly, when Eve is first created and wakes in the Garden of Eden, her response to the pool of water introduces narcissism as one of her major flaws, or even a fatal flaw for women in general, as she becomes self-absorbed with her beauty in the reflection. This emphasizes firstly that her most important quality that seems to be appreciated is her sexuality and beauty, and her response not only denotes a vanity and shallowness that consequently makes her vulnerable to the serpent’s persuasion, but also reiterates that she doesn’t see or appreciate more in herself than very primarily her beauty.

Through this essay, the idea that The Merchant’s Tale pictures women as bodies only (domestic and sexual) under the rule of men is argued and that, likewise, Milton’s Paradise Lost presents women as second place and that Eve, the first of women and their epitome, is the body to be ruled by Adam as head. Moreover, in his concentration on Eve’s body and her sensuous behavior, Milton shows that he shares the prejudices of his time which was suspicious of women’s sexuality18 Note Proverbs’ warning against women that might be applied to Eve, who is able to talk her way out of being side by side with Adam and also persuade him to eat the fruit: ‘With seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him’ Proverbs 7:21. and warned men to focus on spiritual matters so they have the strength to control women’s bodies.

Bibliography

1. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Chaucers-View-of-Women-Exposed-in-The-P3AAJSSXH3G4Y
2. http://plato.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/rcunningham/2283-06/Paper2Web/Wells/Paper_Template2.htm
3. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton, accessed January 14
4. Hussey M ed., 1975, The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale, Cambridge, CUP
5. Fowler A ed., 1984, Paradise Lost, USA, Longman http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm (viewed January 2014)
6. Sandra S. Fernandes Erickson: THE ETHICS OF GENDER IN MILTON’S PARADISE LOST
7. Mike Edwards: John Milton: Paradise Lost (Analysing Texts) Palgrave Macmillan (2013)
8. Doctrine & Discipline of Divorce, Milton
9. E. Talbot Donaldson, ‘Speaking of Chaucer’ 1970
10. Peter Western: Penguin Critical Studies: Paradise Lost 1990
11. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects (London, 1792)

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, the ultimate model of the relationship between creator and creation is demonstrated in the relationship of God and Man. Milton refers to God as Heavenly Father declares His omnipotence. (Leila and Mohammad 55). God is a masterful creator and as and as Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it” (New American Standard Bible). In Paradise Lost and the Bible alike, God gave man “free-will” and reason to understand and make a choice between good and evil. God made Adam and Eve out of His own image and Milton expresses this when writing: “my thoughts associated with them in surprise and disbelief. I can love them, for they have such a strong divine likeness…” (Milton). The essence of humanity is a combination of God and man. In Paradise Lost, readers see the role of God as creator in His creation of Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve gave in to their temptation from Satan and sin, they are cast out of the Garden of Eden. Sin is born and though God is angered, readers see that God is graceful and just. Adam councels Eve and they approach their creator in humble contrite prayer. They sincerely repent of their sin in an act that brings about their reconciliation with God (Urban 107). Their contrition is theologically pure and is met by God’s mercy and justice as their sins are forgiven. The creator creation relationship in Paradise Lost provides readers with the assurance and understanding of God and His ways. As David Urban said in his journal article, “The Falls of Satan, Eve, and Adam, in Paradise Lost…”, “sincere repentance paved the way for their renewed theological sincerity, an integrity of belief that will be safeguarded by a life of sincere obedience” (107-108).

A secondary relationship explored through Paradise Lost is the relationship between God and Satan. Satan falls both through his refusal to worship God’s son and through the angelic rebellion he leads. As a result, Satan attempts to portray himself as God’s victim. Instead of repenting to God as Adam and Eve did, Satan instead chooses to live a life of rebellion. This is evident when Satan tempts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As David Urban wrote, “ As his conscience reminds him of his lost glory, Satan recognizes the perpetual Hell within himself” (96). While Satan may believe that he is all powerful as God is, in Paradise Lost, Satan admits that he was created by God. This admission demolishes “Satan’s ontological grounding for rebellion against God and reveals his claims as fallacious and insincere” (Urban 96). In addition, Satan admits that God was good and fully worthy of his praise and obedience, the motives behind his rebellion, and his role in his followers’ downfall. However, Satan is prideful and rejects repentance and disdaining submission to God. He considers himself a “patron of Adam and Eve, who can save them from their wicked master” who “has imposed upon them” “conditions of ignorance” (Milton 69).

Another example of the role of creator and creature can be examined from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein through the characters of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature. Frankenstein brings to life a “hubristically conceived” Creature with no regard for his life or the consequences of abandoning him (Shohet 160). At the sight of his creation Frankenstein instantly is taken aback by its appearance. “I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelly 35). Frankenstein, unable to sympathize with the being he created abandons the creature. He sought to “measure the formal logic of equality and reciprocity” by determining whether his own rights out weighed the “small portion of happiness” he could offer. Unlike Milton’s God, Frankenstein was not just and implicitly recognized the influence his own power would have on the Creature (Hustis 850). As a result, the creature is left to figure things out on his own with no direction of who he is. When the Creature discovers Milton’s Paradise Lost, the Creature reports, “excited different and far deeper emotions… it moved every feeling of wonder and awe, that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of existing” (Shelly 116). Here we see that the Creature’s knowledge is gained by this book as it enables him to understand his position in the world and the similarities found with his own life. At the notion that his creator has no regard for him, the Creature realizes he’s alone. The Creature says:

“He had some come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from, beings of superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless, and alone” (Shelly 117).

The Creature recognized his solitude and looked for companionship with society, however when he’s met with horrified rejection a shift in personality changed as he began to no longer identify with Adam from Paradise Lost, but rather Satan. Victor Frankenstein demonstrated a lack of responsibility and compassion for his creation which ultimately resulted in a life of fear for the revenge he knew he had coming. As Harriet Hustis writes, “ Frankenstein, fails to exercise such moral responsibility for the single life he creates because he regards creativity as an abstraction” (853). Perhaps if Victor had demonstrated qualities of God in Paradise Lost his life would not have ended in murder.

Numerous references to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein are made throughout the work. Frankenstein’s creature finds a number of books in the woods, among which is Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost provides the creature with a means to understand his existence and under both humans and Satan’s fall from paradise as Victor Frankenstein abandons the creature at the very moment brought to life ‘But Paradise Lost,’ the Creature reports, ‘excited different and far deeper emotions . . . it moved every feeling of wonder and awe, that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting’ (Shelly 116) The monster of Frankenstein perceives the parallels among himself and Milton’s characters. Being deserted by his maker, the creature finds himself in a world he doesn’t comprehend. The creature connects himself and thereafter consistently interprets his own experience with the characters in Milton’s Paradise Lost to make sense of his own condition. “I often referred the several situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own. Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence . . . [yet] many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition’ (Shelly 116–17). As a result, he associates Frankenstein to Milton’s God to understand the relationship between creature and creator. Unlike God presented in Paradise Lost, as Harriet Hustis wrote, “Frankenstein is interested in the principle of “life” only as an abstraction” (848). This realization is confirmed with Frankenstein’s willingness to sacrifice precision for speed. Life is of purely theoretical interest to Frankenstein and enables him to avoid the moral and physical complexities of life (Hustis 849). The God we see in Paradise Lost in contrast, views creation as an “associative or nurturing act” (Hustis 855). It is the creator’s responsibility to recognize the inherent capabilities of their creation and make sure it is most suitable for development and success. The difference between the two creators of God in Paradise Lost and Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein are evident.

In Paradise Lost, “Milton portrays Satan as magnificent and inspiring in the expectation that his readers will sympathize with the demon, and then turns on the reader and, speaking through the narrative of the epic, condemns him for fulfilling this very expectation.” It is clear that Satan, who commited a supreme act of blasphemy, deserves to be shunned from his creator God. Shelly does a very similar thing in Frankenstein when she “replicates Satan’s development in the unlucky but fundamentally blameless Creature.” As a result, Shelly draws an association of the Creature with Milton’s Satan both implicitly, through the Creature’s actions, and explicitly, through the words of the creature himself. A clear parallel emerges between them as both Satan and the Creature were created in the hands of another. At the time of their creation, both figures are pure and good. They become evil when they doubt the affection of their creators. While they were both driven to sin, their reasons to do so came from their very different origins. Like all humans, Satan and the Creature could exercise free will and ultimately chose evil, but for distinct reasons. The Creature desired to be loved, had hoped and aspirations, and have a relationship with his creator, Victor Frankenstein. However, the world could not get past his physical appearance which in turn led to his demise and evil nature. The creature transgresses after he learns of his creator’s aborrence of him. With this rejection from his creator and mutliple rejections from other humans, he decides to murder Victor Frankenstein. In contrast, Satan did not become a fallen angel because of physical rejection, instead because of his desire to be greater than God and his immoral ideals that he wished to oppose upon others. While some chose to follow him, the majority did not leading to his fallen status and desire to cause misery on others that obeyed God. Both rejected creators commit acts of retaliation through a different lens of context and motivation. Satan doesn’t benefit from his crimes, other than the satisfaction of causing pain in his creator. In contrast, the Creature is driven to evil for a desired outcome. We see that the Creature like Satan is left at the end of the text with imminent doom. Satan and the Creature conclude alike “Evil be thou my Good” (Milton 114). The Creature refers to himself as Satan: “the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil” (Shelly 188)

Paradise lost as an epic poem:

John Milton is one of England’s greatest poets. His ‘Paradise Lost’ is one of the best epics in the English language. Here the poet preserves the ancient tradition of heroic writing. In fact, an epic is a long narrative poem that contains a beautiful action, a great hero and a beautiful style. At Milton’s Paradise Lost one can find all three.

An epic is a long narrative poem with a high and high title presented in style and modesty and decorative language. The characters presented at the conference must be at the highest level in the community. They should also be separated from ordinary people by having birthdays and customs. This landmark has never been a conflict between the two armies. The action must involve heroic actions and there are plenty of soldiers and weapons. Its title has never been so well behaved. Homer and Virgil were two great kings of ancient times. Homer wrote the Iliad and Virgil wrote the Aeneid. Of the two artists, Homer and Virgil became the epitome of poetry like Milton.

Milton longed to have Homer or Virgil as the author of the epic poem. He has used his ancient and Biblical studies as a tool for writing works of art such as ‘Paradise Lost’ in order to ‘forgive God’s ways for man.’

‘I may assert Eternal

Providence, and justify

The ways of God to man.’

There is no doubt that Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is an example of human action and of great importance to all mankind. Let’s try to find all the wonderful things about ‘Paradise Lost’.

The first important feature of epic is that it has the width and width of the universe. It has national significance or significance. Homer in the Iliad reflected the national life, thought and culture of the Greeks. Virgil to Aeneid revealed the hopes and aspirations of the Romans. Like these ‘Paradise lost and they have a high content with an ad for everyone. The fall of man is the theme of this epic. It means that Milton not only follows all the outstanding features of Homer and Virgil’s themes but also transforms and enhances his uniqueness by giving him a Christian perspective.

‘Of the man’s first disobedience and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe.’

W.J. keeping in view the theme of the poem comments: “Paradise Lost is a classical epic not of a man or a hero but the whole race of man.”

Second, it has an ancient theme based on myth and history. Milton’s title and title-making is even greater than Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid because its title belongs to the entire human race and the action meets the requirements of the action recommended by Aristotle. The third important feature of the epic is ‘Muse Encouragement’. This plea is intended to encourage and bless the poet to complete his work properly. Milton also uses this request and seeks the help of the Heavenly Musses i.e., the Holy Spirit.

“And chiefly thou, O spirit dost prefer,

Before all temples the upright heart and pure,

Instruct me, for thou know’st.”

The fourth important aspect of epic is that all characters must have dignity and diversity. In ‘Paradise Lost,’ we meet human characters and more than just humans. Adam and Eve are humans, and God, Christ, and Satan are superhuman forces.

Fifth, a hero must have good qualities because we cannot think of heroes without Heroic qualities. Although it is very difficult to identify the hero of ‘Paradise Lost’, it has great heroes like God, Satan and Adam. Different critics are very different in their views. We can say that he does not really have a hero. Because it is only natural to emphasize that Satan is a hero. However, there is one thing to be said and that is the point. It is well-known that an adult can have the qualities of a hero without being the hero of the story.

Sixth, epic will never survive without critical behavioral research. The theme of Milton’s poem is to show that; God’s ways to man, to show religious authenticity and the need to obey ‘Divine Law.’

Seventh, a prominent feature of the ancient monument is that its language is higher and higher than ordinary Parlance. Milton follows Aristotle’s ideas of high style and gives a sense of beauty in his epic. What art and craftsmanship Milton introduced this concept from astronomy to increase the size of Satan Shield!

“Like the moon, whose orb

Through Optic Glass the Tuscan artist views

At evening, from the top of Fiesole.”

The eighth remarkable feature of ancient warfare is the use of supernatural equipment. Milton’s characters are human and big. The supernatural has played a major role in sharing the destiny of Satan and his followers with Adam and Eve.

Milton’s poem is, without a doubt, the epitome of antiquity. But the mistakes made by critics will never go unnoticed. Its first major feature is the use of mythology and the use of technical terms as we see in the Pandemonium definition. Dryden also said that the main theme of the poem is not war but a myth of losing one’s happiness. Like other epics, it does not end happily and contains only two Roman characters. Some are celestial machines. But I think this argument is unnecessary and unnecessary because it is not necessary for an epic to have a war like its theme. Likewise, fame does not have to be a happy ending. So far a third argument has been filed, which has been rejected by Addison. He says that although the number of characters in this poem is very large, each character is introduced in more than one way.

Ninth, Milton’s use of imaginary metaphors confirms his unquestionable nature as a hero. All the great metaphors are used in Book 1. So much so that they reach the level of metaphors using Homer Virgil Spencer and others.

And finally, Milton followed the Epic rules by writing his poem in an extremely high style, commonly known as ‘Grand Style’. The way Milton uses his words, spoken sentences, references can all be summed up in terms of world size, style, height, elegance and epic fitness.

In summary, we can say that in ‘Paradise Lost’, Milton used all the epic devices found in the ancient epics. It has all the essentials Aristotle sought for great poetry. We totally agree with what C. Bowra says, “In ‘Paradise Lost’ we find all the features of epic with lofty and exalted style.”

According to Aristotle, there are important epic features. Among them are fairy tales, themes, characters, episodes, integrity, emotions and a beautiful style. Addison also described three heroic titles. These are myths, the whole action and the magnitude of the action. When we analyze Paradise lost, we find all these features in it.

Myth is one of the most important aspects of epic. It is considered an epic theme. The most important task of a heroic poet is to choose a character who will reflect and establish. In Paradise Lost Milton chose his theme to create a character. So Paradise Lost fulfills the first and most important condition of this hero.

So far the action has been affected, with three titles. There must be one action; it must be the whole act; and it should be a good deed. In Paradise Lost we get all these titles. This point follows the strong unity of the ancient hero. It contains the unity of the action. The main action of this article is the fall of man. It’s all around this action. The fruit that Eve produced is the beginning of all the works of art. The battle between God and Satan is a prelude to a great act. So the fall of Satan is no different. In short, the whole act of Paradise Lost is single, united and great.

The epic theme should be big, high and amazing. It has to be high and perfect. It should have a global appeal. The theme of Paradise Lost has all these essentials. It actually speaks of the fall of man. The purpose is to make people God’s ways. It’s a very good goal. It includes Satan’s rebellion in Heaven, war in heaven, and the expulsion of apostates.

The hero of the epic poem must be great. He should be the most important person in the nation or even the value of the land. He must have dignity and majesty. The Hero of Paradise Lost is Adam. He has all the qualities of a famous hero. He represents the whole human race. So no hero can be greater than the First Man created by God in his image. Milton’s Paradise Lost Preserves an epic classical culture and works with a wide variety of characters. They are all characters in the universe.

Milton’s Paradise Lost follows almost every important epic meeting. The poet begins this epic by appealing to ‘Muse’, the goddess. The poet has used supernatural tools to accomplish his purpose. Everything is done under the immediate and visible weather guidance.

Here we find a different combination between a little imagination and a little style. Milton has used every means to improve his language. His metaphors are bold, accurate, and infrequent. His empty verse is amazing. Here everything is conceived in a powerful way. As a poet he has never been negligent and excessive. A striking feature of Milton’s style is the use of Homeric symbols. He uses ancient myths and legends and illustrations.

So Milton’s Paradise Lost is a great hit. It holds the position among the epics of the western world. It is noteworthy that the height of its theme and the magnitude of its style. Paradise Lost is full of good old-fashioned speculation about the names of various places, wars, and much more that Milton talked about in his this poem.

Conclusion:

Epic is often listed among the highest forms of poetry. The Universe of Literature has given birth to some of the national anthems, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, Beowulf, Aeneid, The Faerie Queen etc. Milton’s Paradise Lost can also be neatly arranged among the greatest poems. It is undoubtedly one of the highest efforts of Milton and fully capable of qualifying for the great popularity of English literature as an epic poem.

They create blockbusters ‘It was a dazzling, cool day in April, and the timepiece stood striking thirteen’, they bring metaphors ‘Whole world is a stage and all the guys and girls are simply players’, they frame sarcasm and irony ‘Cool, breezy and raining? I like Dutch climate!’. In all of these cases, it is clear-cut that they are not actually presenting the truth, rather just a closely relatable idea. Often there are huge dissimilarity between the occurrence and narration. However, when some represent ethically unpleasant action, others are associated with artwork and poetry. (Emar Maier)

How historically accurate is Shakespeare’s story? For centuries, the clans had been waging war on each other. Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, written nearly 400 years ago, is widely accepted as one of his great tragedies and rated alongside ‘Hamlet’, ‘King Lear’ and ‘Julius Caesar’. But how historically correct is it?

It is generally accepted that Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth sometime between 1604 and 1606, when there was a new king on the throne, King James I and VI of Scotland. Shakespeare would have gained approval for a Scottish play from the new King. Especially one with witches in it, for it was well known that the King was interested in witches, witchcraft and the supernatural (in 1597 James had written a book on spirits and witchcraft called ‘Demonologies’).

Shakespeare appears to deliberately mix fact and fiction in the play. Apparently using Holinshed’s ‘Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland’ (1587) as his source, Shakespeare sets the battle between Duncan and Macbeth in 1040 at Birnam Hill in Perthshire, rather than near Elgin where it actually took place. In the play Macbeth dies at Dunsinane whereas in reality it was at Lumphanan where he was defeated and killed in 1057.

Shakespeare’s play takes place over a year whereas in reality, Macbeth ruled for 17 years. As for the personalities of the two main characters, Duncan and Macbeth, again Shakespeare’s portrayal is not historically correct. In the play Duncan is portrayed as a strong, wise and elderly king whereas in reality he was a young, weak and ineffective ruler. Shakespeare’s Macbeth has virtually no legitimate claim to the throne whereas the real Macbeth had a respectable claim through his mother’s side – indeed both Macbeth and his wife were descended from Kenneth MacAlpin. Shakespeare also gives Macbeth the title ‘Thane of Glamis’ but in fact Glamis was not known as a thanage in the 11th century. In Shakespeare’s play, MacBeth’s friend Banquo is shown as a noble and loyal man, resisting evil, a contrast to the character of Macbeth. In Holinshed’s ‘Chronicles’ however, Banquo is shown as exactly the opposite: he is an accomplice in MacBeth’s murder of Duncan. The new king, James I and VI of Scotland, claimed ancestry from Banquo through the Stewart line of kings. To have shown Banquo as a murderer of kings would not have pleased James! Indeed there is debate as to whether or not Banquo actually existed at all in history.

All in all, the confusing mix of fact and fiction which runs through the play is bewildering. (Ben Johnson)

A poem is no longer solely for a rebuke,

a story is no longer only for a heated discussion,

the job of poems and stories on a person is no longer with the useful aid of logic, wisdom,

but with the aid of the way of their capability to delight, to provoke, to captivate, to attract,

perhaps so means Philip Pullman in his introduction to John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608-1674). Although John Milton’s epic stays one of the celebrated prominent retelling of the Christian story, how far this work that has mesmerized writers through the generations different from actual biblical account. Milton’s poem tells the story of the Fall; of Satan’s banishment from heaven for leading an insurrection towards God and of his revenge in corrupting Adam and Eve, then consequently all humans, by way of tempting them to consume the fruit of the tree of understanding of good and evil.

Unlike the Biblical account of the fall in the Book of Genesis, with his epic poem, Paradise Lost, John Milton adds a lot of detail about the complete story of Man, the beginning of Satan, his rise and Man’s Fall. Although the ideas for Paradise Lost came from a few pages in the Book of Genesis, Milton’s account kept readers wondering what was going to happen next. Because he was going against the church already with Paradise Lost, it was more intriguing for him to take the same ideas in the Bible and extend them into more detail, making Satan look like the Hero and succeeding at what he wanted to do.

Milton wrote paradise lost to prove the techniques of god to men. However, the superstar of the work is unfortunately not the God but Satan, the extremist and spiteful, yet heroic in a most disastrous fashion, as Blake placed Milton he is of the devils team without knowing it. Milton used to be of the devil’s gang because he was pushed by a dark suspicion of illegitimate power, he helped the parliamentarians in opposition to Charles I and supported the king’s execution for which he was imprisoned and detained following the restoration in 1660. Milton’s inborn propensity for insurgency led him additionally to champion freedom of moral sense and speech. ‘Give me the freedom to realize, to voice and to argue in liberty accordance to person’s moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one’s behavior’, he wrote in Areopagitica one of the great polemics towards censorship. (Kenan Malik: From Milton to Pullman, the quest for truth is riddled with ambiguity)

God created the Son, the angels, Man, Heaven, Earth and everything else. Milton faced a difficult task with creating tension about would happen since God already knew. In Paradise Lost, God is almost emotionless or aloof; he embodies pure reason and pure justice, and every response he gives seems to be cold. In Genesis God is wise and known as the creator and is more the narrator of what is happening than in Milton’s epic. Also He is referred to as Lord God, instead of God, like Milton refers to Him. So, in close the start and fall Man to summarize the creation and reason for human nature is ‘God gave Man free will, from Man’s free will, sin and death came into the world.’

Paradise Lost was about Adam and Eve, how they came to be created, the fall of Satan and his journey to get back at God by corrupting Adam and Eve. The main plot of this took place in God’s creation called the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost is similar to the book of Genesis because its story comes from the main pages of Genesis, chapters one through four. It is considered to be Milton’s major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. Most of all the poetry wrote by Milton contains his point of view of his faith. The reason that a lot of Milton’s poetry contained his faith may have been influenced from his father. According to Jonathan Rosen, while a child, Milton’s family was kicked out of the church due to Milton’s father rejecting the Catholic faith in return for the acceptance of Protestantism (Rosen, 4). This taught Milton that if he believed something that he should tell everyone. This was unlike anyone during the time, since people of the time were punished for their beliefs, but Milton wanted to let everyone know how he felt about his faith. According to Myron Taylor, Milton was one of the first poets or writers to start expressing his freedom of speech and religion in the early days, when this type of freedom was unheard of (Taylor, 2). Milton felt so strong about his faith that he thought that it was worth every bit of his life to let everyone know how he felt. Milton was not too lazy to make his long poem rhyme: this was an artistic choice and even a political statement. The publisher was confused why he didn’t use rhyme, so Milton wrote an introduction saying that good poetry doesn’t have to, since rhyme is nothing ‘but the invention of a barbarous age’.

Paradise Lost begins with a prologue by Milton which states his purpose and an epic description of Satan who is depicted on his back with the other rebellious angels chained to the lake of fire. Genesis starts out saying ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, And God said, Let there be light and there was light and God separated the light from the dark’ (Genesis).

About the birth of Man and Woman, the Book of Genesis says, ‘Then Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a Garden of Eden, in the east and there he had put the man he had formed, the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.’(Genesis) Milton’s’ version of the birth of Adam in Paradise Lost is somewhat similar to the book of Genesis, ‘The first human created by God from the dust of earth, who was created by God after the angels who rebelled were defeated’ (www.gradesaver.com). Similar in birth but Genesis did not mention much about the war between God and the angel nor a timeline of when the first man came to be. It was kind of like there was earth and now there is man in Genesis. In Paradise Lost it gave the back story of the war in Heaven and why God created man.

As for the second birth, I would like to examine the birth of Eve in the two books and the birth of Sin. It is an interesting fact that these are two women’ one full human being and the other half human – half serpent. In the book of Genesis, God caused sleep to fall upon man, and while sleeping, he took one of Adam’s ribs and made it into a woman and brought her to man, who later named her Eve. Her name is Eve because she was the mother of all ‘living’ In Paradise Lost, Eve is created from Adam’s rib as his helper to maintain the Garden of Eden. Before the Fall, Eve was created to serve man. But Sin was created to help destroy man. Eve was presented as submissive to Adam and to an extent dependent on him. Their births are both from the body of who they are serving and yet both books go into depth about only one of how they came to be; Eve from the book of Genesis and Sin from Paradise Lost ‘light vs. dark. Milton adds a lot of imagery to the relationship between Sin and Satan, which ultimately ends with the incestuous birth of Death. But Adam and Eve offspring, Cain and Abel, do not come until after the Fall of man and they are barely mentioned in Paradise Lost.

There is a number of questions that arouse in human mind and belong to the category of universal questions. Probably, the one that is the most popular is as follows: What is the reason for God’s allowing people to experience pain and suffering if God has love for everyone and knowledge of everything? The author of The Problem of Pain shows the meaning of the problem of pain, stating that pain presents a problem because of selfishness and narrow-mindedness of human consciousness as people are convinced that if we had an opportunity to live a life entirely devoid of pain, it would have been a perfect proof of God’s love for us. In fact, the author of the book is trying to prove the readers that pain is the direct result of God’s love for people and God’s tool of people’s improvement; He uses pain in order to bring us closer to Him.

The beginning of the book is very successful and eloquent since the author starts it on a personal note saying that “not many years ago [he] was an atheist” (Lewis 1). Thus, he makes an impression that the information he is going to state is first-hand since Lewis uses atheist argument about the existing evil in the world. He finds that the main merit of this atheist argument is its problem: “If the universe is so bad, or even half so bad, how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?” (Lewis 3). Lewis further explains that the answer is that “spectacle of the universe as revealed by experience can never be the ground for religion” (4). Religion is beyond experience.

A necessary reservation is made by Lewis at the beginning of his book at it is necessary to tackle it as well, it concerns equivocality of the terms “good”, “almighty”, and “happy” (Lewis 16). The author states that it is necessary to think these terms over again as they need alteration. In case if conventional definitions of the notions of “good”, “happy”, and “almighty” are considered satisfactory and suitable, it will be simply impossible to find an answer and solution to the argument (Lewis 16).

The first issue analyzed by Lewis pertaining to the problem of pain is the essence of omnipotence. He states that a human being should not be omnipotent since in that case it would have been impossible to distinguish one’s ideas from somebody else’s, besides, the nature of the world should also be fixed so that all people could be under equal and appropriate conditions, but the permanence of nature can also become the cause of evil and pain as in the example with wood that can be used as a beam and as a club to hit another person (Lewis 24). Hence the connection of the permanence of nature and frequent victories of those who are guided by unjust causes but possess material superiority. Finally, Lewis states that though it is at the mercy of God to “thwart harmful uses of the matter” (24), the world where wrong acts cannot be committed, would deprive people of the freedom of will. In case, if people are deprived of free will and the possibility of suffering, life will lose its sense.

In the next section, Lewis offers the description of the notion of divine goodness that is connected with the problem of pain. He states that divine goodness differs from usual kindness; the latter does not suit God. All-forgiving kindness is unable to conquer evil, as God hates evil, it is necessary for God to make those who practice evil better. This is why God lets us suffer; pain is the way to perfection and the best proof of God’s love for us.

As a proof of divine goodness, the author sets the example of original sin committed by Adam and Eve (Lewis 74). He describes the first humans as “all consciousness” (Lewis 72). According to the author, they were able to control such processes as aging but they lost this gift of “perfect cyclic movement, being, power and joy descended from God” (Lewis 74) as a consequence of their being tempted by the Evil One and they became imperfect. To become prefect again, a soul has to change due to the body’s suffering. Though God could have cured original sin, there was the possibility of the second sin and many other sins and constant painless curing instead of painful redemption would be useless. The redemption of the sin though pain is compared to the shout of God to us, while his part in our pleasures is compared to His whisper only (Lewis 91).

The abovementioned episode of Adam and Eve’s falling out of God’s grace is central in the poem by Milton, Paradise Lost. As the title of the poem suggests, it is the literary work about the Lost Paradise and the cause of the fall of the first human beings and the consequences of their fall.

Milton’s poem can help to understand the idea of pain as the partial blessing and the proof of God’s mercy and love for human beings. Milton gives the readers the account of the events preceding the fall of the first people and their expulsion from the Paradise. To understand the idea of Lewis, it is necessary to understand that there are two ways of behavior that are possible for those who show disobedience to God. Satan disobeyed God and showed his pride, he was sure that he “Can make a Heaven of Hell, Hell of Heaven” (Milton and Young 10). He has chosen to follow the route of Sin further; this is why he is described as a gradually falling creature. A reader can see that, at first, Satan is a Cherub, then he takes the form of a toad (Milton and Young 96), finally, he appears in front of Eve as a snake. His degradation is irreversible as he does not want to obey God.

Adam and Eve also commit a Sin of pride. Due to this Sin, they must be exiled from Paradise. What is more, God decides to punish them with the help of pain. Still, this punishment is “justice with mercy” (Milton and Young 223). The essence of the punishment though pain is as follows: the sentence for women is to give birth to new life though great physical pain and submission to males should become one more punishment for women as Eve has disobeyed her husband. Men, in their turn, have to work to provide their living and their families by hunt and harvest gathering. At first, this seems to be just a punishment for those who have betrayed God. What is more, God orders His angels to change the world. From that time on, seasons will be following one another, winter will bring cold and pain, and summer will bring awful heat and suffering. The Earth, full of suffering and pain, this is what Adam was shown by the Son of God. It is not clear if mercy of God is present here, suffering seem to be the punishment only and Adam and Eve start arguing with each other because of that. Still, by the end of Book X, Adam and Eve come to realize that submission to God is the way to salvation: “both confessed humbly their faults, and pardon begg’d: with tears” (Milton and Young 251).

The next step after submission to God is acceptance of pain. Adam and Eve understand this when they are accompanied to the Earth by Michael who show them pain waiting for future generations of people. Still, he also shows Enoch (Milton and Young 257) and Noah who are saved due to their obedience and submission to God. Adam and Eve see that this is the way to salvation. The idea presented by Milton is like the idea of Lewis: people will live on the Earth among suffering and God will give them free will to act as they want to, it is possible for them to save themselves due to their own free will and obedience.

One more idea about pain as the way to salvation is the idea presented by Milton in Book XII; God will send His Son to atone the Sin of humanity. Pain and suffering of the Son of God will open people the way to happiness. As the heroes of the play, Adam and Eve understand this, they see that their punishment is the mercy of God; God loves them and shows them the way to happiness.

Drawing a conclusion, it is possible to state that the book The Problem of Pain by Lewis and the play Paradise Lost by Milton share the same argument: humanity has to experience pain and suffering in order to find the way to perfection. Pain has double nature: it is a punishment for sins and disobedience but it is the mercy and salvation at the same time. God has immense love for human beings and He wants us to become more perfect and pure. As Adam and Eve have lost their purity when they were in God’s grace, pain has become the tool by which God want us to become pure again. The argument presented in both book is a compelling one and it is reasonable for every Christian and for every intelligent person on the whole.

Works Cited

Lewis, Clive Staples. The Problem of Pain. Harper Collins: New York, 2001.

Milton, John, and Edward Young. Paradise Lost: In Twelve Parts. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, & Co., 1850.

“Paradise Lost” by John Milton was written in year 1667 and is considered to be a great work of art, as well as a reflection of human history and beliefs that were and are a very important part of the culture. The forces that govern everything around are being studied by human civilization but a great part of how it all came into being is unknown, leading to a belief that a higher intelligence took part in the making and structuring of the universe.

John Milton wrote the poem a long time ago and it was written for people of all ages and belief systems but specifically for Christians and those who believe in the Garden of Eden and the creation of the world by God. It is a kind of a legend that can be told to children as an explanation of how everything appeared but also it could be analyzed by adults with a goal to find the truth and what forces of Nature there are. “Paradise Lost” tells a story of the first days of the creation of Earth. It begins by describing how there was a battle between good and evil—Satan the fallen angel and God and his angels. Satan lost the battle and was condemned to a chaotic place where he built a castle for himself and all those who decided to join him. As Satan was very unpleased with his banishment from Heaven he decided to take his revenge on Earth and God’s new creation—Adam and Eve. He himself went to the Garden of Eden using all kinds of deception on angels who were guarding the passageways to Adam and Eve. He had some opposition from the good forces but his persistence eventually paid off. When he finally reached his destination he turned into a serpent and while Adam and Eve were separated during their daily routine, he persuaded Eve to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. This way he wanted to ruin God’s new creation and avenge his defeat. God knew about Satan and that he is trying to have his revenge and so warned the angels to protect Adam and Eve but nonetheless Satan found a way to commit his deed. After Eve tasted the apple she convinced Adam to eat it also and even though he knew it was wrong he was ready to take the punishment because he loved Eve and wanted to be by her side. After they ate it they became aware of themselves and their nakedness, gaining the knowledge that was initially forbidden by God. This act angered God and he banished Adam and Eve from the Garden. Meanwhile Satan returned to his castle and was greeted by his followers in the success of his revenge. But the joy was short lived as God turned them all into serpents as a punishment for their evil (Milton, 1905). This story, which is well known in the world, represents the everlasting battle between good and evil. It teaches people that evil deeds will eventually be punished and obedience to God and his Word will be greatly rewarded.

John Milton’s work is a representation of the time in which the poem was written and the beliefs that were present within the society and culture. In the year 1667 people’s lives were closely intertwined with religion and a belief in God and other heavenly beings who were thought of as indivisible from the daily life. “Paradise Lost” can be considered a legend or even a historical document as it describes the events that presumably took place and were recorded in the Bible. The people who were told about the Bible and its teachings respect it very much and believe that the beginning of the world happened exactly as it is described. It supports the view that God has created Earth, humans and every other living creature. It serves as a reminder and support for people who believe in God, explaining life, death, sin and immortality. It can also be seen as a reassurance that good deeds will be rewarded and that God watches over his creations, guiding and helping people (Wittreich, 2011). In those past times people did not have the understanding that exists today and this story and God were a part of everyday life, which created purpose and made sense of everything that was around. The story of God, Heaven, Angels, Adam and Eve and Satan, are all key elements in the Christian religion that describe God’s intentions. It reminds people of the greater purpose of life and its continuation beyond the planet Earth. For Christian people and all those who believe in God the poem is not a legend but a reliable document that describes and shares the divinity of Earth, all the living things and people themselves. It explains why humanity exists and teaches what is wrong and right. The Bible is considered a true document written from the words of God and many believe it to be a description of what really took place. The definite and precise nature with which the poem is written leaves no place for doubt and seems to be closer to a historical work than a fictional legend.

“Paradise Lost” describes events that presumably happened a long time ago. There is no chance to prove or disprove what is illustrated by Milton. People today might be skeptical towards the true nature of the story told in “Paradise Lost” but in the older times it is possible to conclude that people believed that this was exactly how the world and everything else came to be. When analyzing a personal belief in the document it seems that some of the story could be true. There is no hard evidence to support the poem but the fact that it exists, both as a work of art and a reference to the Bible, creates some amount of doubt pertaining to the falsification of the events. With all the mysterious happenings that are observed in the modern times and which have been described in the past, it would not be a surprise if the general points are relevant to cosmic forces that exist. There is a chance that everything didn’t happen exactly the way it is described but the common theme and the nature of a more powerful being than humans is legitimately acceptable. Taking into account the year that this work was written, it is possible to conclude that people living in those times were very religious and the belief that there is a God and Heavens was almost undoubted. Sciences and technology, as well as the civilization and the modern way of thinking were non-existent and people relied on legends and beliefs that were passed on through generations. The fact that there are people today who believe the Bible to be true, makes it very plausible that people were very sure of it 300 years ago. Personally this document is a reminder that there are forces in the world and the universe that cannot be quantified or proved. There is no doubt that some things that are thought of as “magical” today are real forces of nature that science still has no way to describe—confirm or oppose. The modern knowledge of the material and physical, the make-up of “everything” leads to believe that there is a great design that is incomprehensible by a human mind in its present state of development but the mere fact that the planets and stars somehow create themselves into being and are governed by laws that could not possibly be made by humans, makes a person wonder if some of the events described really did take place.

The world is a very mysterious place that opens a great amount of possibilities. “Paradise Lost” is a document that can serve as a reminder that it was not a human mind that created the Earth and the solar system, not to mention the universe, that there is a force much more intelligent, which governed the formation of planets and stars and still does today. All the chemical elements and the physical laws like gravity or absence thereof, show that Nature has a logical and well structured design and the question of who created all of this is secondary to the fact that it all exists in harmony and a balanced order, which can be studied and observed by human beings.

References

Milton, J. (1905). Paradise Lost. London: G. Routledge and sons.

Wittreich, J. (2011). Lost paradise regained: The twin halves of Milton’s epic vision1. University of Toronto Quarterly, 80(3), 731-755.

John Milton wrote the poem Paradise Lost in the seventeenth century. This epic poem by Milton takes a philosophical look while arguing about man’s relationship with God. Milton believed that God predestined man to fall but that the fall was ultimately to the advantage of mankind. Here the word predestined is actually used to describe the connection between God and His creations. Those who believe in predestination argue that our fate is already predetermined and no matter how hard we try to do good or bad things we can actually do very little to alter Gods plan.

The argument is that during creation God chose those He intended to go to heaven and those that He actually thinks should perish in the fires of hell. I however beg to disagree with this great English poet that this predestination was actually intended to benefit mankind and not Him; it’s actually the opposite because the fall was predestined to benefit God and not man as we shall see below.

The fall of mankind was predestined by God. Milton openly shows us this in his poem and I quote, “… though both Not equal, as their sex not equal ……….” (Milton, IV.295–311)

These lines are found at the end of book ten and they were first spoken by Adam and now John is narrating them. These observations are made in book four as Eve and Adam prepare themselves to go to bed. Milton contrasts Gods creations Adam and Eve basing on their looks and general behavior. He reasons from that perspective in assessing their value in the spiritual context. God created Adam and Eve to play different roles and they do exactly that. Adam was created to serve God and that is why we see them working together before Eve was created.

Eve on the other hand was created to serve both God the creator and Adam her husband. She is serving God and His servant; this makes her task to be very complicated. She surrendered to Adam because of her love to him while at the same time serving God by that. Comparing Adam and Eve and the roles that they play, Adams seems to be very clever and holy compared to his wife Eve. Milton clearly brings out the gender imbalance between the two genders. Women are supposed to submit to their husbands and serve them. This is predetermined by God because He is the one who actually created these genders. This weakness in women makes them very vulnerable and that is why sin actually enters mankind through her.

Since Adam trusts her so much, he fails to disagree with her and sins with her. What we actually realize from this is that had God not created Eve weak, then there would be no sin. The reason why she was created weak and loving was to bring Adam down and she does exactly that. This fall was meant to benefit God though and not mankind because after being sent away from the Garden of Eden, life changes and things become pretty hard afterwards..

“ Farewell happy fields, Where joy forever dwells: hail, horrors! Paradise Lost. (Milton Line, 249). Adam and Eve having sinned only remain with two choices namely repenting or continuing in disobedience. They choose to repent and this actually marks the beginning of the long search for salvation. God makes man to sin and then provides the option of salvation so that man remains very obedient and serves Him in truth and spirit or else perishes in the fires of hell. If only we had foreknowledge of what awaits us then things would be very different.

“Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe”. Paradise Lost” Book i. Line 1.

We would all be able to know exactly what awaits us and why. Foreknowledge is used here to mean the ability to become aware of something before it actually happens. Unfortunately Adam and Eve didn’t know that they would be sent away from the Garden of Eden but God knew this.

Had mankind recognized what the almighty plans were then, life would be simpler than it actually is today. God created man very innocent and also made him be able to sin at the same time. God makes man to sin so that he can be glorified and His power. Adam and Eve having tasted the forbidden fruit become very knowledgeable and God does not like this, so He sends them away from paradise now that they are able to discover things that He did not want them to.

We see that Satan is also sent away later on when he also disobeys God. He automatically ceases to be referred as son of God as the other Angels who have not sinned. These are in essence the repercussions of trying to know more or behaving like you want to challenge God.

Satan after being sent away now is leading those that will go to hell. Satan was of course created by God but now he is opposing God and kind of they are sharing people. God remains in paradise alone with the angels that have not sinned. Hell on the other hand is the extreme opposite of heaven with all the bad things one can ever imagine of. Man is not fortunate because he was created with both the ability to sin and do good though he has very little or no choice regarding his future. Mammon disobeys God and is equally send away

“ Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell From heaven; for ev’n in heaven his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoy’d” Paradise Lost (Milton Line 679).

We are able to deduce that the fall of man from grace was necessary so as to show that God is omnipotent and cannot be rivaled. God knew very well prior to creation that man would fall but still went on to create him. The reason partly was to fulfill history because He had already predestined this.

“ sin consists in the deviation of the creature’s will (man’s or angel’s) from the will of God; yet, to the degree that our will is congruent with God’s will, we are constrained to will that original sin should have occurred, since God Himself willed that of which it was the necessary precondition. At the same time, of course, we are not to will that we continue in sin (in willing at cross-purposes with God’s will (Milton).

God then brings us someone to redeem us from sin so that we can make our way back to heaven. God sends His son to do this and makes Him do only good things meaning that one can live without sinning. Despite all the good things that the son does, He is still crucified by man. This speaks of our brutality and justifies the fact that God loves man but it is man who refuses to do good.

This perspective makes it clear that God did not create Adam and Eve together with their descendants to lead a happy life in Paradise but instead created them to serve Him. Through the fall of mankind, God is now able to send His son here so that He can also show how omnipotent His father is. The son only does good things and speaks of how well and gentle His father is. He is crucified for sins He did not commit.

The ultimate end of Gods creation is to glorify Him. This is why we have salvation so that those who glorify and serve God in truth and spirit may go to heaven. The challenge actually is not only doing good things other than serving God. This is so because God has predestined the life of every man. Man therefore has no choice on where he will go after his life on earth. God has already chosen those that He wants to be with in Paradise come the Day of Judgment.

Humankind is a creation of God with unique brains and the ability to do things in a certain manner. God therefore having created man, still has the ability to control his actions and that is why He lets man sin. God is thus working for the fall just from the word go. This fall is very necessary in that He will get a chance to show His love by reinstating humankind.

This is very crucial because upon restoration our state becomes even better than it was before the fall. However this should not be misconstrued to mean that the fall was necessary so as to better the lives of humankind. There are arguments of course that this fall was necessary for us to be redeemed and then lead a happier life thereafter, but is this really true? Look at it this way, if God has the ability to restore us after the fall, then He definitely had the ability of giving us a better life even without falling.

But then why did we have to fall first? It is fallacious to answer this question that we had to fall so as to be given a better life. We will therefore have to critically look at His motives for letting us fall. God lets man fall as in this quote “Which way shall I fly Infinite wrath and infinite despair? Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell; And in the lowest deep a lower deep,

Still threat’ning to devour me, opens wide, To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven”. (Milton Line 73).

God is what Milton says He is not. If He schemed the fall then He actually is the author of sin. Fortunate fall us to God in a discomfited state of furtively wanting Adam and Eve to practice what He tells them not to. This is not easy for Adam and Eve though because their lives are predestined and they have no control of what they are doing since they cannot act independently. This doctrine makes all Gods forewarnings insincere. In book five the angel Raphael is send by God to caution Adam in relation to Satan. Lightly, you might be tempted to think that the intention of God is compassionate but the argument in book five tells us the exact opposite because Gods motive is to make man indefensible.

Others can argue that the fact that God brings good out of evil is not enough to make the fall auspicious. It can only be fortune if the good that arises subsequently could not have arisen in any other different way. The major issue here is that does God really need evil for Him to show His strength? God did not necessarily require Adam and Eve to eat the apple as a pre stipulation for the eventual and tremendous happiness of those few descendants who will enjoy it. “…..most of us will of course anguish forever in hell” (Milton). I however beg to disagree with such reasoning because God has the power to prevent us from sinning but instead He chooses not to. Man therefore sins and suffers all the consequences.

Adam also goes further to tell us that the fall was fortunate, “O goodness infinite, goodness immense. That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good; more wonderful……….” (Milton). This affirms that the fall was Fortunate.

This position is incredibly important to the interpretation of this work as a whole because all the blame is in reality being placed on Adam and Eve yet God had a hand in it. Eve carries the blame of misleading Adam and Adam carries the blame of blindly following the woman without first thinking about the repercussions. No one wants to mention the extremely decisive role played by God in predestining the lives of these innocent beings that did not have foreknowledge hence unfortunate. For instance why did the almighty create the woman to be weak? Adam and Eve are only here to implement Gods plans, they have no choice. “So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear, Farewell remorse; all good to me is lost. Evil, be thou my good.” Paradise Lost. Book iv. Line 108.

They are Gods creations created to perform certain specific tasks and that is what they do anyway. The implication is that God is solely responsible for all the actions that occurred in Paradise, so Adam and Eve should just be left out of the whole mess that occurred in Paradise.

Work cited

John Milton (1667) Paradise Lost. Web.