Wisdom vs. Vanity in John Milton's Paradise Lost
In the seventeeth century, women were not permitted to embrace in the power of knowledge. John Milton portrays the only female character in his epic poem, Paradise Lost, as a subservient creature caught in a seemingly misogynistic society. Milton states Eve's location in the great chain of authority of his time quite clearly with her inferiority to man repeated frequently throughout the epic, especially amplified in Book IV and Book IX. Milton uses the character of Eve to represent the ills that can befall mankind after she (the woman) breaks the chain of authority in which she was placed. A twenty-first century reader might perceive Milton's theodicy on a woman's place in society to be inhumane as well as appalling, however, during his time women were accepted by society and themselves as subordinate on the chain of hierarchy. They were to be treated properly by their man but were to walk two steps behind their superior male counterpart at all times. Even though Milton's blatant description of Eve's role in the created world is unequal, the twenty-first century reader accepts this concept and enjoys the passionate power that the character has over the reasonable male authority figure.
In the traditional epic structure and in Book I of Paradise Lost, the reader is immediately introduced to the main action of the story being told, the narration opens with the middle of the story (media res) and uses flashbacks to develop the plot. "Of man's first disobedience…Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?…the infernal serpent; he it was, whose guile stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived the mother of mankind"(PL: BK 1, L 1-36). It is stated quite clearly...
... middle of paper ...
...ind and originated from Eve's persistence to separate from her commander and remove herself from her place in the chain of authority.
Book IV is a pivotal book due to the fact that it sets up what is to come and foreshadows the fall in Book IX. Milton gives Eve the simple power of submission to prove that vanity can appeal and overpower even the most virtuous and intellectual of beings. Eve, as a woman, is to love, honor and obey her husband. These words are vows of marriage that are no longer acceptable in today's society but these words are what exemplify the marriage of Adam and Eve. Eve is supposed to submit to her ultimate authority, who is Adam. Adam, in Book IX submits to Eve's unreasonable discourse on separation. The implication of a ruler succombing to the power of passion is quite intense and the consequences of this are serious and life changing
Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.
In The Descent of Alette Alice Notley has created an epic poem that confronts male hegemony. The tyrant symbolizes the corrupt patriarchy while Alette symbolizes the capabilities of a female to overcome their gender specific personality traits placed on them by society. Notley addresses the thesis continuously throughout the poem using form, symbolism, and historical context.
In Milton’s poem we see and feel that the character of Eve is somehow not as important as the character of Adam. This is evident in the way Adam is consulted while Eve is left to herself in times of important conversations. In Book eight, Adam says that Eve is “th’ inferior, in the mind and inward faculties.” (Paradise Lost, book 8, line 317-318) Eve is a submissive character in Paradise Lost. On the other hand, Beatrice, in Dante’s The Divine Comedy, is a strong character and leads Dante. The use of numbers is very important in Dante’s poem as the number three reveals itself several times as well as the number seven. This is not a characteristic found in Paradise Lost.
...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.
Whitfield, Jonathan. The Invisible Woman: Eve’s Self Image in Paradise Lost.. University of Wisconsin Board of Regents , 2007. 57-61. Web.
In Paradise Lost, Women’s inability to control themselves leads to disobedience and disaster follows. The disobedience of Eve is described using reference to the seven deadly sins.
In Parable of the Sower, many issues are addressed and discussed in a new and creative way. One issue addressed is how women are treated in society. Although Parable of the Sower is considered a dystopian world and is an exaggerated sense of reality, the concepts remain true. The shortfalls of the society and larger systemic ideas throughout the book in some sense are an exaggerated sense of the truth. These concepts are lessons to the readers and can often lead to morals or conclusions that can be taken away from the book. This is true of most books, and thus it is important to read the lessons and make connections to find the deeper moral of the
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Shakespeare II.i.166-67). So Hamlet tells Horatio when he marvels at the spectre of the ghost. Hamlet is telling his friend that science and natural philosophy can only account for so much. A point comes when humans cannot rationalize or prove certain events. In Paradise Lost , Raphael tells Adam similar sentiments when Adam questions him on the nature of the universe in Book VIII. However, Raphael goes on to warn Adam not to ponder deeply things that he can never know fully. This type of curiosity and desire for learning only leads to sin.
One of the most prominent themes in Fragment VII of the Canterbury Tales is the attitudes of the pilgrims towards women. There are two distinct sides in the dispute: that women are simply objects of lust that must never be trusted, and that women are highly respectable and loving.
The theme of free will is highlighted at various points throughout Paradise Lost through different characters. Through each characters actions and the element of choice displayed, Milton conveys his view point that while God is omniscient and there is an eternal providence, free will his not hindered. Milton also conveys through Eve that she choose to disobey God, she does so knowing there will consequences, signifying that she does not have the full capacity to reason clearly. Despite his being aware of the paradox that free will and eternal providence present the reader, Milton did not believe that this constrained one’s understanding of Paradise Lost.
In Book IX of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Eve makes a very important and revealing speech to the tree of knowledge. In it, she demonstrates the effect that the forbidden fruit has had on her. Eve’s language becomes as shameful as the nakedness that Adam and Eve would later try to cover up with fig leaves. After eating the forbidden apple, Eve’s speech is riddled with blasphemy, self-exaltation, and egocentrism.
There have been many different interpretations of John Milton's epic, Paradise Lost. Milton's purpose in writing the epic was to explain the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Although the epic is similar to the Bible story in many ways, Milton's character structure differs from that of the Bible's version. Through-out the epic Milton describes the characters in the way he believes they are. In book II of Paradise Lost, Milton portrays Satan as a rebel who exhibits certain heroic qualities, but who turns out not to be a hero.
In Book IV, Eve recalls awakening to consciousness but she is uncertain of her identity and of her place in the Garden of Eden. Eve's first thoughts are of “where and what [she] was, whence thither brought, and how” (Paradise Lost, IV.451-52), and it is this curiosity about her identity that leads Eve to disobey God eventually. From the moment of her conception, Eve is already distant from God because she awakens in the shade and not in God’s light. Throughout Paradise Lost, Eve is identified with reflections, shadows, and dreams. Representing the “otherness” of Eden, Eve is an outcast and she seeks to find meaning in her life. At the moment of her awakening, Eve is engrossed by her reflection in the water, which she thinks is another being. This watery, wavering image of Eve extends throughout Milton’s poem, and this further puts Eve in a weak position, for Eve is merely a ref...
In conclusion, Paradise Lost can be seen through a historically contextual lens that allows us to see the parallels between Milton’s life and experiences during the reign of Charles I, and the predominant themes in his epic poem. Many of the themes in Paradise Lost, from the broader situational occurrences to the behavior of individual character’s and their attitudes toward the situations in which they find themselves can be seen as directly influenced by Milton’s time as a Parliamentarian in 17th century England.
John Milton's great epic poem, Paradise Lost, was written between the 1640's and 1665 in England, at a time of rapid change in the western world. Milton, a Puritan, clung to traditional Christian beliefs throughout his epic, but he also combined signs of the changing modern era with ancient epic style to craft a masterpiece. He chose as the subject of his great work the fall of man, from Genesis, which was a very popular story to discuss and retell at the time. His whole life had led up to the completion of this greatest work; he put over twenty years of time and almost as many years of study and travel to build a timeless classic. The success of his poem lies in the fact that he skillfully combined classic epic tradition with strongly held Puritan Christian beliefs.