Paradise Lost John Milton

The following entry presents criticism of Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (published in
ten books in 1667; enlarged into twelve books in 1674). See also, John Milton Criticism.

INTRODUCTION
The story of the Fall of Man is known to many people not so much through the Bible as
through John Milton's Paradise Lost. Milton's epic presents a version of Genesis that has
become part of biblical lore, to the extent that many Christians who have never read the
work nonetheless base their understanding of the Creation and the Fall on Milton's
additions and elaborations. The poem's tremendous influence aside, the sheer breadth of
Milton's undertaking and the unparalleled beauty of his verse have made Paradise Lost
one of the most significant works in the English literary canon, and poets from his own
era to the present have cited Milton as a major influence.

Biographical Information
Milton's greatest poem was first published not long after his fortunes had sunk to their
lowest level. As a religious and political dissenter, Milton had been a supporter of the
Commonwealth government of Oliver Cromwell. He had been strongly critical of King
Charles I, whose execution marked the Interregnum period during which Milton acted as
the Secretary for the Foreign Tongues for the Council of State and wrote several political
tracts opposing the former monarchy. Among them was Eikonoklastes (1649), an answer
to Charles I's Eikon Basilike, a work purportedly written the night before his execution, in
which Charles depicted himself as a royal martyr. Although he became totally blind in
1652, Milton continued his duties as Secretary, hiring Andrew Marvell in 1653 to act as
his assistant. Upon the death of Cromwell in September of 1658, however, the
Commonwealth government became unstable. By mid-1659, Milton had gone into
hiding. Parliament began pursuing his arrest, and his booksA Defense of the English
People (1651) and Eikonoklastes especiallywere burned publicly. Milton moved from
house to house that year until he was captured and imprisoned for approximately two
months. Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, and although Milton was pardoned,
his personal life remained troubled: his marriage to his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull, in
1663, infuriated his daughters from his first marriage, who may have attempted
retaliation by disposing of his books. He escaped the plague of 1665 by leaving London,
but the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed his father's house. He had, however, finished
Paradise Lost in 1664, according to some sources, and succeeded in publishing it in
1667; his contract with the printer Samuel Simmons is the earliest surviving author's
contract. The poem was published again in a slightly expanded second edition in 1674,
with prefatory poems by S. B. and Marvell. Thanks in large part to Paradise Lost,
recognition of Milton's skill and talent as a poet had grown considerably by the time of
his death that year.

Plot and Major Characters

Paradise Lost tells a story that is among the most familiar in Judaic and Christian
cultures: the story of the Fall of humanity in Eden. The central figures in the poem
include God, Jesus, Satan, Adam, Eve, and the archangels Raphael and Michael. Book 1
begins as Satan awakes in hell, having lost his rebellion against God in heaven. He
awakens his followers; begins to plot revenge against God by corrupting God's newest
creation, Man; and convenes a council of the fallen angels. Book 2 recounts the
proceedings of this council, during which Satan volunteers to search out earth and this
new creation. He escapes hell, passing through the gate guarded by Sin and Death,
crosses the vast gulf between hell and heaven, and comes to the edge of the universe. In
Book 3 God, who sees all, is aware of Satan's plan and creates a remedy for Man's
imminent fall: the Son (Jesus) will come to earth and conquer death. In the meantime,
Satan makes his way toward earth, deceiving the angel Uriel, who guards the way. Uriel
directs Satan to earth. In Book 4 Satan finds Eden. There he sees Adam and Eve and
listens to them talk. The couple recall their creation and their first meeting, and Satan
burns with grief and jealousy. That night, in the shape of a toad at Eve's ear, Satan
influences her dreams as she sleeps. However, he is discovered by angels guarding
Paradise and departs. Book 5 opens with Eve relating her dream to Adam. In the dream,
Satan, appearing as a good angel, leads Eve to the forbidden tree, eats the fruit, and
encourages her to do the same. Later, the angel Raphael comes to talk to Adam and warns
him of Satan's plans. In response to Adam's questions, Raphael relates the story of the
war in heaven. This narration concludes Book 5 and continues through all of Book 6. In
response to further questions from Adam, Raphael recounts the story of the Creation in
Book 7. In Book 8 Adam in turn tells Raphael about what he recalls since his creation and
the creation of Eve, the partner whom he requested from God, and they discuss the nature
of human love. Book 9 presents the downfall first of Eve then of Adam. Satan sneaks
back into the garden and hides inside a serpent. The next morning, as Eve is working in
the garden, he goes to her and convinces her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, although
she knows God has forbidden it. Knowing she has done wrong, and unable to bear being
separated from Adam, she convinces him to eat the fruit too. From that moment, lust and
anger define their relationship. In Book 10 the Son comes to judge Adam and Eve, who
refuse to take responsibility for their actions. They are to be expelled from Eden. Eve will
experience pain in childbirth and must submit to the will of her husband; Adam must
labor for his food. Both will know death. Sin and Death are pleased with Satan's success
and make plans to come live on earth, building a bridge between earth and hell in order to
ease the path between them. Satan returns to hell to celebrate with the other fallen angels,
but they are all turned into snakes. God reorders the heavens and earth, bringing about
harsh weather and climates. Adam and Eve are despondent, and Eve considers suicide
before Adam relents in his anger. They decide to ask God for forgiveness and are glad
that they are still together. In Book 11 the Son is moved by their remorse and intercedes
for them with God. God forgives them but insists that they leave Paradise, sending
Michael to guide them out and instruct them on proper living. Beginning in Book 11 and
continuing into Book 12, Michael shows Adam a vision of the future, telling the stories of
Cain and Abel, Abraham, Moses, David, and other Old Testament figures. He also
reassures Adam that the Son will come and conquer death by taking on Adam's
punishment himself. Michael also tells Adam that although they must leave Paradise, God

is everywhere on earth and will be near them. Michael then leads Adam and Eve to the
gates of Paradise, and they set off in the world together, hand in hand.

Major Themes
Milton's stated purpose in Paradise Lost was to justify the ways of God to man. Central
to this project was defining the nature of obedience, free will, and just authority. Satan
provides a foil for God, setting up an illegitimate kingdom in hell that contrasts with the
natural and just rule of God in heaven. Satan's arguments are often compelling: he claims
the angels have liberty in hell, if not comfort, and he opposes the hierarchies of heaven.
The contrast compels readers to judge the true nature of liberty and the true source of
authority, and encourages them to distinguish between genuine freedom and mere
lawlessness or chaos, while firmly asserting humanity's free will with respect to God.
Among the hierarchies of greatest interest to Milton in Paradise Lost is that found in
marriage. As some critics have noted, Milton spends a large amount of time establishing
and reinforcing an idea that almost no one in his age would have seriously contested: the
inferiority of women to men. The extent to which the poem actually portrays women as
inferior has long been a matter of debate, but it clearly states, more than once, that
women must be in a mediated position: Eve relates to God through Adam; she is in the
background when Adam talks to the angels; she is expected to follow Adam's lead.
Nonetheless, despite the repeated stress on Eve's lower position with respect to Adam, the
poem also describes in detail the ideal nature of wedded love as ordained by God. In long
passages discussing love and marriage, Milton portrays the model relationship as an
equal partnership of shared labor. God creates Eve to provide Adam with a companion
worthy of him, after Adam complains that the beasts are not enough. While she is not
Adam's equal in reason, she has merits he lacks, and enough reason to be fit for mutual
conversation and work. Among the most fascinating of Adam and Eve's conversations are
those in which they discuss their creation and self-recognition. The development of
selfhood and the recognition of others as distinct from the self is a crucial part of Milton's
creation story. In particular, Eve's awakening and subsequent introduction to Adam is a
model for the gradual human development of self-awareness.

Critical Reception
Milton's poetic contemporaries were generally awed by his achievement. John Dryden,
the leading poet of Restoration society, remarked that in Paradise Lost Milton had
outdone any other poet of his time: This man has cut us all out, and the ancients too, he
was reported to have said. Some scholars have verified Dryden's assessment, suggesting
that the decline of the epic genre was the direct result of Milton's supreme achievement,
making any further efforts in the epic impossible and superfluous. Although in many
ways Milton was very much out of step with his contemporariesreligiously, politically,
and artisticallyhis accomplishment in Paradise Lost was readily acknowledged, and his
stature as a poet only increased through the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth,
perhaps reaching a peak during the Romantic era. Romantic poets, including John Keats,
William Blake, and Percy Shelley, celebrated Milton's genius and drew heavily from his
influence. By the early twentieth century, however, some literary scholars began to

question Milton's talent. Inconsistencies in the poem became a target for the criticism of
such luminaries as F. R. Leavis and T. S. Eliot. Milton's artistry and reputation was
already established, however. Criticism of the later twentieth century falls generally into
three broad schools: political readings of the work, stylistic readings, and thematic
interpretations. Scholars take for granted that Paradise Lost reflects Milton's frustration
with the failed Revolution. Joan Bennett has argued that Milton's depiction of Satan has
strong connections to Charles I, linking his exploration of tyranny in Paradise Lost to his
prose writings on the tyranny of the monarchy. More broadly, historian Christopher Hill
has suggested that the Fall of Man was for Milton analogous to the collapse of the
Commonwealth government, each constituting a failure of humanity to choose the right
path. Criticism on the form of Paradise Lost has investigated Milton's innovations with
the epic: Mary Ann Radzinowicz has detailed the poet's adaptation of psalm genres to the
epic form, and Barbara Kiefer Lewalski has found that Milton appropriated a wide
variety of genres to create the multiple voices of his characters, particularly in the
difficult task of characterizing God. Among the studies of the major themes in the poem,
scholarship on Milton and women has been dominant. Opinions on Milton's misogyny or
feminism have varied widely, with some scholars declaring that Milton was obsessed
with the inherent wickedness of women, and others finding Milton to be a true champion
of women's worth. More nuanced readings of Paradise Lost have acknowledged Milton's
insistence on women's subordination while also observing how the poem portrays women
as independent humans with free will. Diane Kelsey McColley's study of Eve in Paradise
Lost was among the first important studies attempting to strike a balance in the
interpretation of Milton's depiction of the first woman. Other critics, such as Maureen
Quilligan, have noted that much of the movement of the poem depends upon Eve and her
use of free will. And, as Linda Gregerson has argued, Milton's narration of Eve's coming
to selfhood makes Eve, and not Adam, the model for human subjectivity.