Introduction

Of all the work that English poet John Milton has done, Paradise Lost is kind of the big kahuna of his
work. It really towers above everything else he wrote, and also everything else, pretty much, in the
English language. He and Shakespeare are kind of even for most important dude in English. It was
published in 1667, and Paradise Lost basically recreates the Biblical story of the 'Fall of Man,' mostly
taken from the Book of Genesis, and it's through the lens of Greco-Roman epics like The Odyssey or
The Illiad - these stories of heroism and war and things like that.
Centuries after its initial publication, critics are still arguing about the most basic aspects of the work,
which is fitting - all of his writing inspired controversy. Probably not as much as Paradise Lost, but
that's the kind of dude he was. He made people think, and he's going to make us think.
As we mentioned, Paradise Lost was published in 1667. It's 10,000 lines long, so it's an undertaking if
you want to read the whole thing. It's blank-verse, so it doesn't rhyme, and it's broken up into ten
books. Actually, later editions of it broke it into 12 to try to mimic The Aeneid, which is the Latin poet
Virgil's major work.
It's worth noting that Paradise Lost saw release near the end of Milton's life, and it was pretty much all
written when Milton was totally blind and also totally out of political favor. He was actually even kind
of a wanted criminal during part of this time. He wrote it by basically dictating it to his daughters
because he couldn't see. The effect that his political situation and his physical state at the time play on
the poem is up for debate - it's something that people and critics fight about, too - but whatever effect
it might have had, it's definitely impressive that he was able to do that in that condition, essentially.
Paradise Lost follows two strands of narrative. We've got Satan who's the rebellious angel, originally
called Lucifer, outcast from Heaven and thrown into Hell. It also features the Garden of Eden's
familiar resident couple, Adam and Eve, as Satan switches from Greek-tinged anti-hero to antagonist
and tricks them into committing Original Sin. It bears repeating that the plot outline of Paradise Lost
is basically in the Book of Genesis. It's nothing new.
But where Milton really excels - and why he's such a big deal - is that he's able to use language so
skillfully as to dramatize this in a whole new and compelling way. Actually in such a compelling way,
in such a long-lasting way, that a lot of our understanding of Genesis is actually influenced by
Paradise Lost. So they kind of become synonymous in the way that we think about the creation story.
Selected Passages
Like Virgil Milton directly states the elevated theme of his, that is the ‘man’s first disobedience’. In a
highly Latinized verse he alienates the subject from The Book of Genesis:
"Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With the loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat."
Milton proposes to compose or sing of man’s first act of disobedience to God’s command in eating the
fruit of the tree of knowledge which was forbidden by God and as a result of which death and all the
miseries of mankind were brought into this world and the heavenly state of innocence and bliss which
man enjoyed in Heaven was lost, until Jesus Christ, the Son of God should atone for our sins by his
death and regain for us the lost happiness.
Milton invokes his part to the Heavenly Muse and she is localized not upon Mount Olympus or Mount
Helicon, but ‘on the secret top’ of Horeb or Sinai, sacred in Hebraic belief, associated here particularly
with Moses:
“Sing, heavenly muse, that on the secret top,
Of Oreb or of Sinai didst inspire………..”
It is said that God’s message was first sent in Jerusalem to the Jews, the world of the ancient religion.
Moses and Jenova are its old divine characters. The Heavenly Muse and its structure and location were
first revealed before the Jews. The poet is eager to know the reality how Heaven and earth came into
existence out of chaos. People say that Muse lives in Sion Hill. Thus he prays to the goddess to inspire
him from there to his articulation of epic poetry.
Like a Renaissance man Milton also invokes Holy Spirit to his aid. As a true learned scholar he blends
classical, Hebrew and Christian element together. The prologues in Paradise Lost begin as classical
invocations but with one exception, they rise to Christian prayers to the Holy Spirit.
Milton also possesses high moral plane and seriousness in composing his poem. Alike the great
classics his is the ambitions task with no ordinary theme. He seeks Devine inspiration for his
adventurous song:
“…….. I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or shyme”.
Milton wants to rise very high in his creative urge in the reality of things and incidents. He wishes his
poetry to be better than the literature composed on the Aonian Mount by the ancient authors. His is the
subject not yet attempted by any author in prose or poetry. Milton seeks aid of the Holy Spirit for his
lofty composition that has always been in existence and knows everything.
Milton further expresses his humility with an earnest appeal for divine support to overcome his
limitation:
“What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support”.
It is a poignant references to his terrible limitation as a Poet his blindness. Metaphorically, the
darkness might the ignorance if the Poet has any. Epic is a poetic art of a high order and lowliness is
also to be removed from him. Milton’s plan is to affirm that the Divine plan for the world is beneficent
and that God’s dealings with men are always just.
The invocation of Paradise Lost is of high merit. “The plaung of the pauses, the use and fall of
emotion, the high emotional charge in which the poet’s sense of dedication and of communion with
the great Biblical figures of the Old Testament is communicated, the supplicatory cadence of the
appeal to have his darkness illumined and his mind elevated, and the final powerful simplicity of the
concluding statement of his purpose – all this represents poetic art of a higher order” (David Daiches).
Here is indeed the loftiness of thought, splendid dignity of expression and rhythmic felicities.
Satan Speech
`Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,’
Said then the lost archangel, `this the seat
That we must change for heav’n, this mournful gloom
For that celestial light? Be it so, since he
Who now is sovran can dispose and bid
What shall be right: furthest from him is best
Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme
Above his equals. Farewell happy fields
Where joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail
Infernal world, and thou profoundest hell
Receive thy new possessor: one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder bath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; the almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in hell:
Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven.

These lines are taken from Book I. Satan is surveying his new home trying to become aware of the
new situation after his downfall. Satan and the Rebel Angels had fallen down through space “Nine
times the Space that measures Day and Night” before landing in hell. Satan compares the new world
to Paradise and feels lost because everything is different here: “the region, the soil, the clime“; there is
only “a mournful gloom” all over the place instead of the “celestial light” of the Paradise. He is not glad
at first to be there, but he soon rejects despair and accepts the new situation: “Be it so…. Farewell happy
fields where joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail infernal word”. In the following lines Satan shows
all his ambition, all his self-confidence and determination. He realizes that now he is the “new possessor”
of a place where “ farthest from him( God)…. at least we shall be free….and….may reign secure”. His
ambition is to have a reign somewhere, no matter if that place is gloomy and horrible. He is great in the
self-assurance of his strength: he has got “a mind not to be changed by place or time”, a mind that “
can make a Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven”. Then hell and heaven are only states
of mind. Milton’s hell is not a real place! Hell is in the mind because the mind can change the external
world: if we live in a Paradise but our mind perceives it as a hell, that place will be hell and viceversa.
Satan is the real hero of Paradise Lost; he shows all the characteristics that Milton admired: courage,
pride, oratorical power, self-confidence, ambition and so on.He is great in the self-assurance of his
strength and in his contempt of the pain that has been inflicted on him. He also embodies Milton’s
Puritan ideals of independence and liberty since he is seen as a rebel fighting against the absolute
power of a tyrannical God, just as Milton, defender of liberties, struggles his battle against a despotic
king. As Blake said, “Milton is on the Devil’s party without knowing”. He feels equal to God in reason
and inferior only in power. When God banishes him from Heaven, he feels himself injured and wants to
take a revenge against him, corrupting His new creation: man. He succeeds in his task and in the form
of a snake, he persuades Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden tree of knowledge.
Satan is ambitious. He is very proud and his boundless pride makes him believe that it “is better to reign
in Hell, than serve in Heaven”. He has got the traits of the great military leaders and tries and succeeds
in giving courage to his depressed soldiers after a defeat. The rebellious element in Milton’s Satan was
later to influence the Romantic poets in the conception of the “satanic hero”, a lonely outsider who
struggles against everything and everybody, isolated from the rest of mankind. In the Byronic Hero we
can find many traits of Milton’s Satan.
Even if Satan is the central figure in the passage, the presence of God is always felt. Satan never directly
names him, but God is always in his thoughts. He feels to be equal to God in reason; he is inferior to
him only in the power because God possesses the strenght:” what reason has equalled, thunder hath
made greater”. He considers himself to be only “less than he”. Satan despises the pain inflicted on him,
but he seems frustrated because he is aware of God’s superiority: he refers to God calling him “ the
Almighty” ,he admits that “ he who now is Sovran can dispose and bid what shall be right”.
The language of the passage, direct and forceful, has the characteristics of the best oratory full of
memorable phrases.
Milton's Description of Hell
First published in 1667, John Milton's Paradise Lost recreates the biblical story of mankind's fall,
covering everything from Satan's rebellion against Heaven to his manipulation of Adam and Eve. In
addition to being one of the most memorable epic poems (which are long narrative poems, usually
split into parts or 'books') in English literature, Paradise Lost also gave us one of the most enduring
depictions of Hell since Dante's Inferno. Let's jump right into Milton's first description of Hell, as seen
through the eyes of Satan in the first book:
At once, as far as Angels ken, he views
The 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
Served only to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all, but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed.
Such place Eternal Justice has prepared
For those rebellious; here their prison ordained
In utter darkness, and their portion set,
As far removed from God and light of Heaven
As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole.
Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell!
If this is your first time reading Milton, don't worry if you have some trouble navigating these lines.
By modern standards, Milton's language is incredibly dense. Fortunately, by breaking down Milton's
description into three main points, we can grasp the meaning of this passage.
The first point that Milton presents is that there is no real light in Hell, even though there is more than
enough flame to go around. Instead of giving off light, the fires of Hell only give off 'darkness visible'
that allows its prisoners ''only to discover sights of woe.'' In a sense, Milton's description of hellfire is a
paradox, which is a combination of two things that seem to cancel each other out, such as 'darkness
visible'.
The second point in Milton's description also has to do with hellfire. Instead of consuming whatever
material is burned and eventually going out, the fires of Hell feed on ''ever-burning sulphur'' that
doesn't disintegrate in the flames. So, as we continue to explore the nature of Hell and its inhabitants,
keep in mind that, the entire time, Satan and his fellow fallen angels are constantly being burned.
The third (and perhaps most important) point that Milton raises is that Hell is as far from Heaven as
possible:
As far removed from God and light of Heaven
As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole..
Milton doesn't just mean that Hell is physically far from heaven, however: Hell is the polar opposite of
Heaven in every way (darkness instead of light, eternal torture instead or eternal peace, etc.).
Interestingly enough, Milton also comes to reveal that God has no control over what happens in Hell,
which makes it possible for Satan and his cohorts to build their kingdom in Hell.
Pandemonium: Hell's Capital
Although it's significant that the first two books of Paradise Lost are set in Hell, it's also important to
note that a large portion of the action takes place in a specific part of Hell. This specific part is the
(appropriately named) city of Pandemonium, which Milton refers to as the ''high capital'' of Hell.
However, Pandemonium wasn't just sitting there when Satan and the other fallen angels arrived.
Rather, Satan and company had to build it themselves (burning in hellfire all the while). Fortunately,
as Milton reveals, the fallen angels still possess a tremendous amount of strength and ingenuity, which
they pour into their construction of Pandemonium:
Learn how their greatest monuments of fame
And strength, and art, are easily outdone
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they, with incessant toil
And hands innumerable, scarce perform.
Nigh on the plain, in many cells prepared,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude
With wondrous art founded the massy ore,
Severing each kind, and scummed the bullion-dross.
A third as soon had formed within the ground
A various mould, and from the boiling cells
By strange conveyance filled each hollow nook;
As in an organ, from one blast of wind,
To many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes.
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet--
Built like a temple, where pilasters round
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
With golden architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures graven;
The roof was fretted gold.