Paradise Lost
- Evaluation of Paradise lost as an epic poem. ***
Introduction:
Paradise lost is an epic poem in Blank Verse by the 17th
century English poet John Milton. The poem concerns the biblical story of
the fall of Man: The temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and
their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
Def. Epic:
The word epic is derived from the Ancient Greek
adjective, “epikos”, which means a poetic story. In literature, an epic is a
long narrative poem, which is usually related to heroic deeds of a person of an
unusual courage and unparalleled bravery.
Main Story:
The story opens in hell, where Satan and his followers are
recovering from defeat in a war they waged against God. They build a palace,
called Pandemonium, where they hold council to determine whether or not to
return to battle. Satan undertakes the mission alone. God sees Satan flying towards
this world and foretells the fall of man. Satan gets to Eden and becomes
jealous of Adam and Eve. Uriel tells his fellow angels, and they apprehend and
banish Satan. God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve. He tells them of how
Lucifer's jealousy against Jesus started a war in heaven. He also speaks of how
Jesus forced Satan and his ranks to hell. He tells Adam man was made to replace
the fallen angels. Satan came back to Earth as a serpent and tricked Eve into
eating the forbidden fruit. Adam, not wanting to lost Eve, also ate the fruit.
God sends Michael to expel the pair from Paradise, but first to reveal to Adam
future events resulting from his sin. Adam is saddened by these visions, but
ultimately revived by revelations of the future coming of the Savior of
mankind. In sadness, mitigated with hope, Adam and Eve are sent away from the
Garden of Paradise.
Character plot:
In Paradise Lost, Adam is the first human being. He and Eve are superior to the
other creatures in the garden and bring about the Fall of Man by disobeying
God. Eve is weaker than Adam in judgment. Her wild nature leaves her vulnerable
to Satan’s influence. Beelzebub is Satan’s second-in-command who promotes
Satan’s strategy for revenge. Satan is the prideful leader of the fallen
angels. His envy of God leads to his expulsion from Heaven.
Main theme:
Milton reveals the central theme of the work: to justify the ways of God to
man. Here justify means to explain and defend, and ultimately to vindicate,
God's course of action in dealing with Adam and Eve after they succumbed to the
temptation of Satan and ate forbidden fruit.
Language and Diction: Milton has used grand style because he has used them
flawlessly. His diction is not simple. He has used a lot of Latin words. He
creates a language and diction which are appropriate to his theme.
Figure of Speech: In this epic Milton compares ancient events and
people to the Hell, Eden, and the War in Heaven. This use of the figure of
speech is indicative of the physical quality of evil. That is to say, evil is
easily defined in earthly terms.
Conclusion: To conclude it
would be very apt to remark that " Paradise Lost" fulfills all the
requirements and the convictions laid down by the classics and is one of the
best epic ever written in English literature. A sane critic is justified in
giving these remarks; " There is nothing in English literature, but
Paradise Lost".
- Give Milton’s description of
Hell in Paradise Lost, Book-I1.
Answer:
Paradise lost is an epic poem in Blank Verse by the 17th
century English poet John Milton. The poem concerns the biblical
story of the fall of Man: The temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel
Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
In
Book I, Hell is described as a fiery prison. Satan is thrown into Hell, in
"Adamantine" (inflexible) chains and "penal" (punishing)
fire, chained on a burning lake.
This first description
of hell is very clearly a place of terror and torment. The rebel Angels
were thrown from the beautiful sky of heaven down to an unending hell of
damnation. There they are suffering in the fires that they cannot escape
from.
From there, the descriptions goes on to
reinforce the above mentioned description. Hell is described as a dismal
situation waste and wild / A dungeon horrible, on all sides round / As one
great furnace flamed, yet from those flames / No light but rather, darkness
visible.
The warm lighted glow that is emitted from
the flames, but this fire is so intense and other-worldly no light comes forth.
It is actually darker than seems possible. It is in incredibility frightening description. From there, the description continues with
interesting and powerful word choices and short phrases. There is a
mention of the "fiery deluge" which suggests a flood of fire -- a
flood is usually thought to be overwhelming and unstoppable. When Beelzebub tries to rally the angels to
be strong in the midst of this torture he acknowledges the "dreary
plain" that is "forlorn and wild." He calls it a
"seat of desolation" and describes the flames as "livid." That is an interesting word choice because
the reader might expect "vivid" meaning bright and lively, but he
uses "livid" to draw the connotation of anger and power. Even though this hell is an awful and
frightening place, Satan wants his followers to "toss off the fiery
waves" and overcome this "dire calamity." He rallies the
other angels to try to rise from the fiery pit they are in and to embrace the
idea that even though they are damned
“The
mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heaven of Hell, or a
Hell of Heaven.”
In his determination and pride, Satan
determines to make Hell into something livable or even sublime.
Short Question
1.
Description of Pandemonium?
Answer: Milton sets the scene for the
building of Pandemonium in hell, where God has cast Satan and his followers in
a sea of fire. Satan dramatically commands and inspires his demons, having
decided that, if he cannot defeat God, he will undermine him in every possible
way.
His followers hurry off to build Pandemonium, a vast temple dedicated to
the worship of all the demon gods. (Pandemonium means "all demons.")
This temple is probably based on descriptions Milton read of both Ancient Rome
(the seat of pagan worship) and St. Peter's, the center of Roman Catholicism in
Rome. As a Puritan, Milton saw the Catholic Church as the anti-Christ. As a
Puritan, he also perceived God as being reflected in simplicity and honest
plainness, not in a grand architecture of excess.
We learn that Pandemonium is built on a
hill "where grisly top / belched fire and rolling smoke"; this would
indicate it is near a volcano and, of course, in the midst of hell's fires.
Milton shows the vast structure being erected in an hour and describes it in
rich detail: the roof made of gold, the huge brass doors opening to a vast
space, and the many pillars, embellishments, and decorations recalling the
excesses of Baroque architecture. Pandemonium has dramatic power in both the
wretched excess of its demonic design and in its status as the false and yet
grandiose seat of power from which Satan and his legions will attack God
himself.
2.
Description all four speech of fallen
angel(moloch, Belial, Mammon, Beelzebub)
Answer:Book 2 opens with Satan sitting
on his throne; He says that now they must debate about the most effective way
to fight God; he asks whether all out war or something more subtle is better.
Moloch speaks first; he's
in favor of open war with God. They should just batter God's throne with all
they've got because things can't be possibly get any worse.
Belial – a really clever
speaker – is up next. He's not in favor of open war because Heaven is too
well-fortified and will easily expel the foreign invaders. Actually, Belial is
against any form of war because God will figure out their plans and defeat
them. Who knows? Maybe God will relax his punishment if they just put up with
it for a while.
Mammon is up next; he
says it is impossible to defeat God and, even if He forgives everybody, they'll
have to be slaves and pay tribute to Him. Not worth it.
Beelzebub rises up;
he says it's a joke to think they can have their own empire in Hell. God will
eventually exert his dominion over it too.
3. Satans encounter with sin and death.
Answer: Sin is the daughter of Satan who
sprang full-formed from Satan's head when he was still in heaven.She guards the
gates of Hell. Death, Satan's son by his daughter, sin. The relations between
Death, Sin, and Satan mimic horribly those of the holy Trinity.
Satan’s encounter with Sin
and Death is an allegory, in which the three characters and their relationships
represent abstract ideas. Sin is the first child of Satan, brought to life by
Satan’s disobedience. Since Satan is the first of God’s creations to disobey,
he personifies disobedience, and the fact that Sin is his daughter suggests
that all sins arise from disobedience and ingratitude toward God. To those who
behold her birth, she is first frightening but then seems strangely attractive,
suggesting the seductive allure of sin to the ordinary individual. Sin dwells
alone and in utter torment, representing the ultimate fate of the sinner. That
Death is Sin’s offspring indicates Milton’s belief that death is not simply a
biological fact of life but rather a punishment for sin and disobedience, a
punishment that nobody escapes.
Give
Milton’s description of Hell in Paradise Lost, Book-1.
Of
all the narrative passages in Paradise Lost, Book-1, John Milton’s description of Hell stands out
unique by virtue of its graphics pictorial quality and its evocation of a sense
of gloomy terror. Milton presents Hell as a place designed for the eternal
punishment of the fallen angels. Hell is a place for removed from the celestial
seat of bliss. It is situated in the nethermost depth of abyss, and it takes
nine days and nights to fall into this dreadful pit from heaven.
Hell is presented in several ways within
Paradise Lost but there are three main techniques used by Milton. These
include through his own commentary, through Satan and his speeches and also
through Beelzebub. Additionally Hell is also presented through the techniques
used by Milton, his structure, style and use of language. Throughout Paradise
Lost Hell is presented as a place, but also as a stat of mind, which Satan
refers to in his speech. Milton uses many opposites in Paradise Lost,
contrasting Heaven with Hell, God with Satan, and good with evil. The contrast
between light and dark exists in all of these opposites. The narrator
characterizes the angels’ physical appearance as full of light, and the devils’
as shadowy and dark. Milton also uses light to symbolize God and God’s grace.
The absence of light in Hell and in Satan himself represents the absence of God
and his grace.
The
opening scenes reveal Hell as a fiery, glittering place that reflects the corrupt souls of the
devils. Milton establishes two opposing poles of evil and good, dark and light,
and the action shifts to Earth, a region blessed by Heaven but vulnerable to
the forces of Hell. Milton’s first description of Hell is full of negative
emotive words, ‘obdurate pride’ and ‘steadfast hate’ are adjectives used by
Milton to describe Hell and the emotive words appeal to the readers emotions ‘dismal’,
‘wast’. ‘A dungeon horrible’ suggesting torture, suffering and
punishment, which is Milton’s intention as he wants you to think of Hell like
this, with a pictorial image produced by his use of language.
Another
significant feature to note is the hopelessness of Hell. Man can partly bear his pains and
sufferings. Because he has an optimistic view that it will end sometime. But
the complete hopelessness or frustration creates an inner disintegration. The fallen
angels, who have brought Hell upon themselves, have no least hope, to get rid
of from this ever damnation. So, they have to face it for eternity.
From
Satan’s talk we learnt that Hell is originally a part of Chaos. Essentially, Chaos is a region of
disorder, uncertainly and darkness. It is opposed to the order, certainly and
light of heaven. As Hell is originally a part of empire of Chase, we have to
imagine it as being situated below haven. In fact, Hell is situated even below
Chaos. In Dante’s Divine comedy, Hell is situated at the center of the
earth but in Milton it is in the lowest depths Chaos.
Summing
up our discussion,
it can be said that, undoubtedly Milton give a vivid and effective picture of
Hell in the Book-1 of Paradise Lost. It is a Place of torment, evoking the
quality of sinister wilderness. It is a hopeless dungeon where all activity is
inspired by the aim of wearing against Omnipotence. It is also to be noted
that, the fallen angels are symbolically the human sinners on this earth.
2.
Satan's First three speech
Or
Write a detailed answer about "satan's speeches" as in book 1.please
include all the five speeches within your answer.
Answer:
As a reader of Milton's Paradise Lost Book-1, its usual that one will mistake
Satan as the epic Hero, because of his strong speeches. The impression that one
gets after examining Santan's speeches is that of nobility and greatness. But
if we carefully examine Satan's speeches we will find that he is the
personification of evil.
Beelzebub is the First person to
whom Satan addresses " and till then who knew the force of those dire
arms?" Satan tells that God eventually proved stronger because of his
power of Thunder. He then tells that he is not repentant of his rebellion
against God, and his mind is "fixed". "What though the field be
lost? All is not lost: the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal
hate, and courage never to submit or yield"- This speech gives Satan a
true heroic stature, he says that they did not lost everything, they still have
there unconquerable will power, and the courage never to submit or surrender.
Satan second speech is again made to
Beelzebub, he says "to be weak is miserable, doing or suffering",
this speech undoubtedly have heroic texture in it, but immediately after this
speech Satan evil nature comes out, when he says "to do ought good never
will be our task, but ever to do ill our sole delight". If God seeks
"to bring forth good" out of good they will still find means of evil.
With such statement only a handful of readers and critics can sympathize with
Satan.
Satan's third and the most important
speech is also made to Beelzebub, his only listener. The third speech of Satan
is very popular and impressive, it acts on the conscience of the reader. In
this speech Satan shows his love of freedom and hatred of slavery. He refers
himself as a "new possessor" of hell and claims to be "One who
brings a mind not to be changed by place or time", he further talks about
the power of mind "the mind is in its own place, and in itself can make a
heaven of hell, a hell of heaven". His love for freedom is depicted in his
speech where he says. "Here at least we shall be free" "To reign
is worth ambition though in hell, it is better to reign in hell than to serve
in heaven". Such remarks undoubtedly will inspire and impress any reader.
3.
Description of the all fallen angel.
Answer:
The other devils are rather wimpy compared to Satan, but their debate is a key
part of Book II.
Moloch:The name means 'king' in Hebrew.
Moloch also goes by the name of Baal and is best known for his inordinate
fondness for child sacrifice. In Book II he is basically Rambo without the
weapons: 'the strongest and the fiercest spirit | That fought in heaven; now
fiercer by despair' (II.44). He characterizes a brawn-not-brains mentality as
he advises open war because he cannot stand being defeated and surviving. Belial:
Belial is the corrupt but soft-spoken metrosexual, the smooth white-faced
talker: 'to vice industrious, but to nobler deeds . In Hebrew, the word
'Belial' means 'worthless' so it is apt that his words are pleasing but
meaningless. Compare this with Satan's words to Eve, which are both pleasing
and successful in causing action, and allow the forces of Hell to win round one
of the engagement. In Paradise Lost talk is not always only talk, but
while Satan is the Archenemy of God, worthy of fear and able to seduce the
innocent Eve, Belial is ineffective and can only work in the already corrupted
fallen world to persuade people to do rather nasty and immoral things.
Mammon:Mammon counsels the devils to be
happy with what they have got, and to create a home for themselves in hell:
It is somewhat ironic that 'Mammon' means
'greed', as here he is essentially telling the devils to be content with what
they have. This has blasphemous echoes of typical Christian advice to be
satisfied with ones lot and desire no more, the difference being that for
Mammon God does not come into it, while for Christians God is the one who
provides, not the self.
Beelzebub:
Beelzebub means 'Lord of the Flies'.
In Paradise Lost, he is second in command to Satan in the hierarchy of
fallen angels. He is not just a pig's head on a stick, as those who have read
William Golding's novel may surmise. He is broad-shouldered, well-proportioned
and every bit the superhero (or supervillain). He is the only fallen angel who
comes close to Satan in screen-time and charisma and Milton deliberately leaves
it vague as to who speaks when the call comes for someone to go out from Hell
and find information about earth and Man.
1 comment:
good effort
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