An Essay on Man
Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man is an attempt to vindicate, as Milton had attempted to justify, the ways of God to man. Both attempt to explain God to man, but come up with different conclusions. Milton states that man can overcome God's design through faith and decency. In contrast, Pope remarks that man must accept what life gives him without trying to change his fate.
Milton seeks to "justify the ways of God to men" (Paradise Lost, 1.26) through example. Paradise Lost focuses on the fall of man and the consequences thereof. After the fall of man, Adam and Eve must endure their punishments, and achieve redemption. They can no longer live within the confines of Eden; but through faith and conviction they will persevere. God gives Adam and Eve free will and the use of reason. Although they choose poorly and are punished with the pains and sufferings of humanity, God allows Adam and Eve to live; though not as they were accustomed to in Paradise. They must live life as we know it; with its weaknesses, yearnings, inevitable defeats; but with the knowledge that they can overcome "To leave this Paradise, but shalt posses / A Paradise within thee, happier far" (Paradise Lost, 12.586-587).
Similar to Milton, Pope tries to "vindicate the ways of God to man" (An Essay on Man, p. 2264.16), however he derives a different conclusion. Pope believes that "In pride, in reasoning pride, our error lies" (An Essay on Man, p. 2266.123). He sets out to demonstrate that no matter how imperfect and disturbingly evil the universe may appear; it is nonetheless a work of God and must be accepted "Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault; / Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought" (An Essay on Man, p. 2265.69-70). It seems imperfect to us only because our perceptions are limited by our moral and intellectual capacity. His conclusion is "And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, / One truth is clear: Whatever is, is RIGHT" (An Essay on Man, p. 2270.291 - 292) that we must learn to accept our positions in the universe, in which we can, lead happy and virtuous lives.
In ancient time, slaves were a big thing. Almost every white people own one. Slaves were treated as animals and were never deemed as to ever able to have the same equality as the others. But then slaves were abolished. However, there is still a line that exists separating black and white. In spite of this segregation, not all are racist. Not all black hate the white and not all white hate the black. There are situations out there that cause some of these different beliefs. Similarly, in the book, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, she mentions both belief of good and evil human nature. But, she leans on one side in the book more. Hillenbrand expresses a positive human nature by placing environmental factors in a way to portray the fact that these factors are what change the
...o die, everything is growing farther and farther apart toward a state of decay; and as it goes, so goes hope, so goes man’s faith in what he can see, think, and reason. This is the hard reality that becomes apparent; if ethical action is limited to man’s thought about morals and principles that are, according to man, “absolute”, then man may be the most arrogant and ignorant of God’s creation.
John Milton's Paradise Lost attempts to justify "God's will" by giving a better understanding of the "ways of God", according to the author. In his work, Milton addresses several issues from biblical text as he expands on the "role of woman" as it is written in the book of Genesis. "Woman's role" is recognized and presented as one that is subordinate to man. Several associations are recognized between Milton's work and books of the Bible which reveal much about the way both of these books intend to define the role of a woman.
As a result of Milton's failed political aspirations, he believes that individuals do not construct truth, or decide for themselves what the truth is; instead, individuals receive the truth directly or indirectly from God. Conversely, deception comes from Satan. In Paradise Lost, Milton sets up this idea by forcing good to result only from obedience to God's will and evil to result whenever God is disobeyed. Dr. Evans' argument that Milton's ultimate point in all this is to express a moral position that is very extreme, that no quality or action can be innately good or evil, is firmly rooted in this model. What determines the morality of anything we do is in whose service we do it. Since Raphael was sent from God, his warning is true and divine. Since Satan disobeyed God, his ideas are all false lies. Part of Milton's ideology may have come from his own life experiences. After the restorat...
Pope, in his Essay on Man, takes the religious approach when thinking about the common man. In the epistles, Pope suggests that the common man is ungrateful of God. He claims that man only blames God for their hardships, but does not thank him for their bounty. Pope brings to light a theological theory that man attempts to claim that they are better than God, to which he responds with scathing regard. Pope regards the common man as disrespecting because of their blasphemous lack of appreciation of their lord. In this philosophical poem, it could be seen that his distaste for the common man’s disregard of God is relates to Pope’s presentation of his view on the Universe; that no matter how imperfect, complex, inscrutable and disturbing the Universe
...to mankind in Paradise Lost - one of the fundamental concepts in Christianity and vital to Milton's objective to "justify the ways of God to men" (1, 26) - the gods in the Aeneid are continually reminding Aeneas that he cannot afford to be distractive by the temptresses that are women because the future of Rome lays in his hands. Milton's God, on the other hand, allows Eve to fall and her blatant transgression caused the loss of paradise and all of creation has to experience the consequences of original sin. In Paradise Lost Eve was expected to submit to her ultimate authority, Adam. Rather, it is Adam in Book IX who submits to Eve's unreasonable discourse on separation. Indeed, the implication of a man (as a superior being) succumbing to feminine wiles and passion is an intense concept which - for both Virgil and Milton - threatened the very basis of their society.
... God’s creation in her eyes. Equally, by embodying reason, Eve is able to gain the benefits of knowledge through experience, thus bringing her closer to Adam and God. Finally, in my examination of the Paradise Lost, I could not perceive Milton’s patriarchal or misogynist sentiment, as do many of his readers. Eve’s virtues are not inferior to Adam’s, and Adam has to learn some of her virtues, as she has to learn his. In this way, Milton does not stratify the value between male and female; they are simply human. Although the question of gender hierarchy may never be aptly answered, Milton in Paradise Lost states his controversial estimation of the ideal gender relationship – equality.
In Paradise Lost, the consequences of the fall and the change in relations between man and nature can best be discussed when we look at Milton's pre-fall descriptions of Eden and its inhabitants. Believing that fallen humans could never fully understand what life was like in Eden and the relationships purely innocent beings shared, Milton begins his depiction of Paradise and Adam and Eve through the fallen eyes of Satan:
In Paradise Lost, Milton portrays his belief that God's real desire is power. To achieve this power, God has given to man the freedom to choose. By giving mankind, more specifically Adam and Eve, this freedom, God will have undefeatable power because those following him will be true. As Eve later states,
The attention Milton gives to each character, and their specific personality, allows us to interpret their actions as consciously chosen deeds within the larger framework of the poem. Great detail is given to the idea of "creation". Beyond that of the creation of the world in Book I, there are many instances where the act of creation itself becomes an act of endowing power on some object or person. The most obvious example would be the creation of Adam and Eve by God. By creating the pair, God, desires them to glorify His ways through their praises and deeds. He gives them enough power over their destiny to choose to worship Him as the Almighty. The fact that they have free will is important to God because they choose to give Him praise despite any outside temptation. There is one obvious drawback to this kind of power. They chose to follow Satan’s beguiling words. The fact that they had the free will to follow Satan’s words meant that their decision was cosmically more important because it was arrived at through conscious thought. We can see this idea of power demonstrated throughout Paradise Lost. The dual relationship between the beneficial act of bestowing power at the time of creation and the negative side of the free will to use that power freely, shows up within every character. Instances of creation appear in every book, and can be associated with every character. Some of the first appearances of the word "author" are connected with the idea of creation. In Book III, the throngs of assembled angels say,"Eternal King, the Author of all being/Fountain of light, thyself invisible/..." (III, 376-7) Here God is portrayed as the great originator of everything in all of creation. To be the "author" of something is to be the creator, much the same way as Milton himself is creating the world of the poem. In virtually every instance the act of "authoring", is associated with images of primacy and legitimacy. The ultimate act of creation, that of shaping the physical world itself, brings about another reference to this idea.
Paradise Lost is an epic poem portraying John Milton’s theological standpoints. The theme is knowledge and the fall of man. Milton uses his poem to state some of his theological beliefs and his personal reflections. Milton wrote Paradise Lost in the 17th century but uses influence from classic poets. Milton’s epic is an extremely important piece of literature. The excerpt used in this commentary takes on the subjects of sin and the punishment with regards to the atonement from God’s point of view. Milton’s states many of his own theological opinions but wants the reader to know that God is justified in everything that he does, and also wants them to know that man has free will.
During the seventeenth century John Milton dared to write an epic poem like no one had ever seen before. This work displays Milton 's genius because he wrote this epic after he became blind, yet he is very deliberate and crafty the way he develops the characters and the plot. Paradise Lost became a representation of a famous story from the Bible, specifically the book of Genesis which tells a story of the first man and woman that lived on Earth. This story however lacks many details that people automatically assume when they read this tale. Milton 's Paradise Lost is the reason for these assumptions. He interprets this story
In the opening lines of Paradise Lost, Milton wastes no time conveying to his readers what his purpose in writing the epic is. He writes in the beginning that he intends to “assert Eternal Providence, / and justifie the wayes of God to men” (I. 25-26). What exactly does this mean though? In order to be able to clearly judge and evaluate what these lines imply, it is important that one understands what exactly Milton’s thoughts we regarding “Eternal Providence” and the “wayes of God”. Stemming from this idea, it is important to also realize how the idea of free will intertwines with the omniscience of God. For Milton, God’s omniscient did not constrain the free will of Adam and Eve. However, this idea presents the reader with a paradoxical situation that Milton as an author was fully aware of. Paradise Lost presents the reader with eternal providence and free will as being part and parcel of each other, neither constrains the other, and it is these two aspects, along with that of knowledge that lay the groundwork in understanding Paradise Lost.
There are three main issues that Pope talks about in his long poem "An Essay on Man." First, the poet evokes a timeless vision of humanity in which the universe is connected to a great chain that extends from God to the tiniest form of life. Secondly, Pope discusses God's plan in which evil must exist for the sake of the greater good, a paradox not fully understandable by human reason. Thirdly, the poem accuses human beings of being proud and impious. Pope feels that man claims more insight into the nature of existence then he possesses.
Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton uses various tools of the epic to convey a traditional and very popular Biblical story. He adds his own touches to make it more of an epic and to set forth new insights into God's ways and the temptations we all face. Through his uses of love, war, heroism, and allusion, Milton crafted an epic; through his references to the Bible and his selection of Christ as the hero, he set forth a beautifully religious Renaissance work. He masterfully combined these two techniques to create a beautiful story capable of withstanding the test of time and touching its readers for centuries.