Paradise Lost, Book I Analysis
Use of Imagery in Paradise Lost -- Book I
Paradise Lost offers an introduction to the story of original sin. Milton uses powerful imagery and allegory to relay the Biblical account of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis and forfeiture of the Garden of Eden. The story of good and evil is presented in a unique and interesting narrative form. In Book I, we are introduced to Satan the Devil (also referred to as the Serpent) who fancies himself equal to God and declares war against him. Many angels chose to follow Satan and all are cast out of Heaven by God. Book I takes us on the journey of Satan and his ban of fallen angels as they are face their exile and torment in Hell. Chaos, as Hell is referred to, is a dark and unclean place. Much of the story is a description of it and the way Satan and his rebel army mobilize. It is chock full of sensory analogies and metaphors.
Milton articulates the conditions that Satan and his outcast followers find themselves in by engaging the reader's five senses, using creative imagery to advance the story. Lines 50-52 cite that for nine days that Satan and his evil followers lay helpless in a lake of hellfire. This presents a frightening and painful image, alluding to the severity of their crime. The torturous and dismal nature of Hell is depicted as "dungeon-like" with thunderbolts from God reigning down. It is described as a world of lost pleasures and unending pain. The reader can vividly imagine the agony and searing burning sensation of being consumed by fire. Hell is referred to as a "belching, unhealthy body" and Milton uses metaphors such as "eclipsed sun" and "dark pit" to convey the horrid atmosphere.
Satan and his army are deprived of the gift of sight and the light of Heaven. The fire and flames that burn them offer no visibility, except to reveal scenes of anguish and torment. In lines 62-64, Milton writes: "A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round / As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames / No light, but rather...
Paradise Lost Book II begins with the assembled devils holding their council in Hell. It begins with a general address by Satan, who says "I give not Heav'n for lost" (II.14). In other words, Satan considers war against God to still be a possibility, and he begins the discussion by asking whether the war should be an outright attempt to take Heaven, or whether it should be conducted, surreptitiously, as
332-333, 336-337). The fallen angels' response to Satan's call is the final confirmation of his character, because it demonstrates how he is able to maintain the respect and interest of his followers even though it appears as if they have been stripped of everything. In this sense, Satan is a kind of idealized revolutionary leader, outmatched by the "Almighty" but unwilling to give up, all the while maintaining the respect
Tests will follow. Continue to cultivate by day, and sleep by night, for even the Nightingale sings of golden slumbers. No want or will of evil haunts this Heavenly hour or dare awakens conscience. Do not act in haste for the fate of humankind has not yet been marbled in stone. According to Milton, Satan's persuasive speech advices Eve that her eyes will be open and that "Millions of spiritual
And so, Kenton goes on, given this schism between East and West, it is his theory that the schism was perhaps symbolized through the interactions between God and the Devil. The freedom of the individual to find his way to God "through Scripture...coincided with Milton's commitment to symbolically unify East and West as proof of the regeneration," Kenton wrote (p. 17). Indeed, Milton's Christian background "necessitates" the need for
Journal Two: God's Will? The issue of God's omniscience vs. The supposed free will of man has plagued theologians for millennia, and it is doubtful that I will solve it in this half page response. Milton's version of the tale does not really seem to support this reading, however. Though God was ultimately responsible for Satan's being in the right (or wrong) place at the wrong (or right) time, he clearly
459). Such an encounter is the mainstay of Book 9 since both Eve and Adam are chastened by God and are forced to reason with Him in order to confess to their sin and accept the punishment required in order to 'multiply and replenish' the earth as they had been commanded. They knew the reason behind such a commandment, and they also knew that in the long run, what
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