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Satan's role in paradise lost
John milton paradise lost as an epic poem
Satan's role in paradise lost
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The Epic Poem Paradise Lost takes the first three books of Genesis and expands them according to Milton’s own interpretation. The strategic point where Eve becomes vulnerable in herself is the key point she becomes susceptible to sin. Traces of her vulnerability begin to surface after she tells Adam about her dream with Satan and he, for reasons to be explored, is unable to digest and articulate what Eve’s heart most desires to know. Among the slew of factors to be explored, it is their relationship together that defines them as individuals when a part from one another.
In the Eve’s dream that is whispered by the mouth of Satan, she awakes to tell Adam to only have him disregard her fear of sin. Adam in his attempt to protect and lift her fears of the dream tells her that is merely a dream and nothing more: “Which gives me hope / That what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream, / Walking thou never wilt consent to do” (5.119-121). Adam tells her that her thoughts and dreams are not a reflection of her motives in her waking life and he quickly tries to reason where this evil could have come from, “ since Eve was created pure she has no latent evil living within her that can have asserted itself by instigating her dream” (Bowers 268). But instead of reasoning with her and recognizing her vulnerability in this moment, he lessens the possible implications by passing it off as merely a dream and nothing more. In his reasoning he knows she is pure, but also knows the implications of it being more than a dream could be detrimental. He rightly protects her by not reasoning through this out loud, but also fails because he gives her no comfort in this dream that now haunts her thoughts. But the dream still shook her, and she looks to Adam fo...
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...Paradise Lost’.” Modern Language Association. 84.2 (March 1969):264-273. Web. 19 November 2013.
Revard, Stella P. “Eve and the Doctrine of Responsibility in Paradise Lost.” Modern Language Association. 88.1 (January 1973):69-78. Web. 19 November 2013.
Grossman, Marshall. “The Rhetoric of Feminine Priority and Ethics of Form in Paradise Lost.” English Literary Renaissance. 33.3 (November 2003): 424-443. Web. 20 November 2013.
McColley, Diane Kelsey. “Free Will and Obedience in the Separation Scene of Paradise Lost.” Rice University. 12.1 (1972): 103-120. Web. 19 November 2013.
Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.”Complete Poems and Major Prose. Ed. Merritt Hughes. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.: 2003, 173-469. Print.
Liebert, Elisabeth. “Rendering ‘More Equal’: Eve's Changing Discourse in Paradise Lost.” Milton Quarterly. 37.3 (2003): 152–165. Web. 20 November 2013.
78, No. 1, pp. 21, No. 2 -. 1 (1959), 13-17. Milton, John, 'Paradise Lost', in Gordon Campbell (ed. ), Complete English Poems, of Education, Areopagitica, (Orion Publishing, London, 1998) Peter, John, A Critique of Paradise Lost, Columbia University Press: New York, 1960.
...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.
Revard, Stella. "Eve and the Doctrine of Responsibility in Paradise Lost." 88.1 69-78. Web. 2 Jan. 2014.
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.
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.
...t, Stephen, gen. ed. “Paradise Lost.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. 36-39.
Reichert, John. Milton's Wisdom: Nature and Scripture in Paradise Lost. Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press. 1992
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 8th ed. Vol. A. gen
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.
The serpent even states to Eve that “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (NIV, Gen 3:5). The next few lines are completely different from what is shown by Milton. It says that when Eve saw that the fruit was good and she began to desire wisdom she took some and ate it. Then she game some to Adam who was with her. This is a very large contrast from Milton’s work because this shows that Adam was present the whole time of the serpent and Eve’s discussion. In the poem “Verses for Madonna of humility with the temptation of Eve” Lynn Powell takes a very graphic and almost nostalgic look at the story of Adam and Eve. Her poem states “Eve 's lying at eye level, propped up on an elbow./And never has abyss been so good to pink,/ the void a perfect foil for her foreground flesh./She fits into the black like a woman/ ready to be skewered in a vaudeville act./ You can tell the painter loves her, the way/ You can tell the painter loves her/ he 's touched her every place he can with paint./ And he 's noticed what she 's thinking:/ holding the pear, as Hamlet did the skull,/ while gazing up at someone who 's got everything to lose./ Eve 's about to make the choice Mary has to live with./
“Paradise Lost.”* The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt and M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. *(page). Print.
Milton. New York: Norton, 1957. Elledge, Scott, ed., pp. 113-117. Paradise Lost: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources.
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...
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.