Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Paradise Lost Themes/Quotes
- Form
- Poem
- Epic poem
- Battle of Good v Evil
- "Heavenl'y muse"
- Milton is giving
himself authority by
crediting his work to
the Holy Spirit
- Classical reference
- Uses poetic
conventions
- Book 3 lines 55 - 79
- 11/2/11 - two lines about love
directly sandwiched between
pure nature and corrupt
nature
- Milton is implying that
pure love seperates
corruption and purity
- Similar patterns
used throughout
- "Of man's first
disobedience and the
fruit of the forbidden
tree"
- the f alliteration draws
attention to those three
words - emphasis
- Creates a second
sentence; "first fruit
forbidden" - double dissonance
- Makes use of
symbols
- eg. Heaven/God = light
- Hell is "far removed from
God and light of heaven"
- Out of the light
and out of God's
favour
- The reader is plunged straight into the
action as Satan wakes up on the lake of fire
- Sensationalised tale
- Hell Mirroring Heaven
- Hell has similarities to heaven, but
usually displays them as warped
- Satan has 12 main followers
- reminiscent of the twelve
disciples of Christ but once
again corrupt
- Similar topography to the
Earth itself (and Heaven) but
chaotic/corrupt
- More like a democracy then
Heaven but Satan is still "king"
- Beelzebub sarcastically calls him "Prince of Hell"
- Hell still has hierarchy of angels
- Satan's followers are angels, but they have
been grotesquel disfigured by their fall
- "Unholy Trinity"
- Satan / Sin / Death
- Borne from lust
- Hideous
- Milton's personal view
highlighted - lust
negative
- This is also present after Adam and Eve eat
from the Tree of Knowledge and have sex driven
by lust (it is implied by the conversations
between Raphael and Adam that they had
previously been itimate; but this is different and
part of their fall.)
- Parallels God (the Father) / The Son /
The Holy Spirit
- Personifying concepts was a common tool
- Earlier : Faerie Queene
- Kind of subtle
- Later: The Pilgrim's Progress
- Blatant
- Political Implications
- Critics believe that within the council
of hell there are many subtle
references to politicians of the day
- Would require more knowledge
- Anti-Catholic
- Temple of Satan book 5 is a
reference to St Peter's Catheral in
Rome -- centre of Catholic Church
- Sin and Death build bridge between Hell and
Earth to allow themselves and Satan to
travel between - as well as welcome Man
- "wondrous Pontifice"
- Used in Reference to Catholic Pope - Milton commenting
that Catholicism is basically path to Hell
- Satan's Democracy vs God's Monarchy
- Satan believes that he was "serving" under
God, and himself holds parliament and
discussion within Hell but the outcome is
evil
- God is an autocratic ruler but is shown very positively
- Milton feelings about Charles' execution? - examplifies
that right actions done for the wrong reasons (eg.
pride/greed/vanity) or carried out irrationally are not right.
- "paradise of fools" between
earth and heaven
- Calvinism?
- Satan
- Some critics believe that
Satan is the central
character / protagonist of
the poem
- Especially during romantic era
- Satan is a charismatic leader who hides
his manipulation well
- God - "Man will hearken to his glozing lies"
- "Better to reign in Hell than
serve in heaven"
- "Make a heaven out of Hell"
- Portrayal onwards of book 4 begins to sour his image
- Laments his loss upon seeing Adam and Eve
- Consistantly changing form to lesser beings -
Cherub / Toad / Snake
- Has become true monstrosity by the end of the poem - moral decay
- Was second to God - felt that he should be God's equal and felt affronted
to be expected to bow to The Son
- Staged a three day revolt that saw him expelled from heaven
- "Fall" image will be ongoing throughout the poem
- Adam and Eve realise that they wll be
able to redeem themselves by pleasing
God voluntarily
- Satan does not believe that he will be better
off in Heaven so stubbornly refuses to
accept his fate -- fixates on displeasing God
further
- Good vs Evil
- Obvious
- "Justify the ways of God to men"
- Milton is exploring the tale of the Fall of
Satan/Mankind and also the cosmic battle of Good v
Evil
- Book 7 Raphael explains that man were created to work their way into Heaven
- The devils' conversations
- Moloch
- Go to war on God
"victory is yet revenge"
- Belial
- God would not kill them, why not
stay in Hell and accept their fate and
perhaps be forgiven
- Mammon
- create and equal force
- Beelzebub
- None of these will work - they will never be true rulers of Hell - far
from God but still part of his control, war will not suceed as Heaven is
stronger and submission will not yield forgiveness
- The only true revenge they can have is upon earth; but
corrupting God's creation man
- Milton suggests that good and evil are
only equal within people and that is the
only way evil can triumph