Introduction to John Milton and Paradise Lost

John Milton (1608–1674)

The English writer and poet John Milton was born into the rising middle class of the 17th century. He received a solid education and attended university at Christ's College in Cambridge. Milton was an incredibly learned and self-motivated man.

After college, Milton spent six years independently studying languages, literature, politics, religion, and more. During these years, in his twenties, he wrote poems like "L'Allegro" (1631) and "Lycidas" (1637).

After Milton took a European tour, he married the 16-year-old Mary Powell, with whom he had four children. This was only his first marriage, however: Milton had two more wives throughout his life.

By the time of the English Civil War, Milton was heavily involved with politics, writing pamphlets in favor of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Despite his gradually failing eyesight, he even served as Cromwell's secretary for foreign languages once the Commonwealth had been established.

Unfortunately, this meant that when Charles II returned to the English throne in 1660, Milton was imprisoned and fined for his connection to Cromwell. After his release, Milton lived mostly in London, mainly writing non-political works.

Astonishingly, Milton penned his greatest work, Paradise Lost (1667), when he was completely blind and financially destitute. It was received well, so Milton composed a sequel entitled Paradise Regained (1671).

Milton died of kidney failure in 1674, shortly after releasing the second edition of Paradise Lost. He was quickly cemented as one of the great English poets and has been imitated, admired, and quoted by many great English writers after him, including William Blake, Alexander Pope, Mary Shelley, William Wordsworth, Thomas Hardy, and William Golding.

Paradise Lost

John Milton did not write his epic poem Paradise Lost by hand but dictated it to a series of scribes since he was blind by the 1660s. Under these circumstances, the poem's sweeping narrative and tightly-crafted language are especially impressive.

The Presentation

Paradise Lost was first published in 1667 in 10 books. The 1674 edition contained 12 books. In the later editions, each book begins with an "Argument" that summarizes the events of that book.

According to Milton, rhyme is "the invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter and lame meter" ("The Verse," Paradise Lost). Unlike his contemporaries, who preferred heroic couplets, Milton composed this long poem in blank verse.

The Plot

Essentially, Paradise Lost retells the Christian story of the fall of Satan, the Creation of the Earth and humanity, and the fall of Adam and Eve. It follows the biblical account but adds a lot of characterization, subtext, and backstory.

As mentioned previously, Paradise Lost is an epic poem. Since his student days, Milton had expressed a desire to write an epic like Homer's Odyssey. He planned to write about a great Saxon king like King Arthur but ultimately decided to base his epic on the Bible.

Paradise Lost fulfills many of the traditional elements of an epic poem.

Long narrative poem: Paradise Lost is a narrative because it tells the story of the creation and fall of Adam and Eve.

Elevated style and language: Milton wanted Paradise Lost to be even more epic than Homer's works; he accomplished much of his poem's grandeur through its diction and composition.

Serious tone and sweeping scope: By giving an account of the beginning, middle, and end of humanity, this poem is about as sweeping as a poem could be.

Royal or divine hero: Though Adam does not come from a long line of kings, he is a direct creation of the God of the universe and the patriarch of the rest of humanity.

Deities and other supernatural powers: God, Jesus, Satan, and angels are all intensely involved in Adam and Eve's story.

In media res beginning: The poem begins in the middle of a dramatic action scene, as Satan and his followers are cast into Hell. Later, Milton provides flashbacks to Satan's rebellion and removal from Heaven.

Invocation of the muse: The Muses were ancient Greek gods of creativity, art, and literature. In the traditional epic, the author would ask the muse for wisdom and guidance in creating a beautiful, accurate piece. For Paradise Lost, Milton took this pagan element and Christianized it by invoking the Holy Spirit: "Sing Heav'nly Muse . . . / And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer / Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure, / Instruct me" (1.6, 17–19).

Address to the host (leader rallies his troops with a convincing speech): Milton turns this convention on its head by having Satan give a rousing speech to his minions in Hell.

Still, there are also many ways Paradise Lost "breaks the mold" of epic poetry.

"Milton challenges his readers in Paradise Lost, at once fulfilling and defying all of our expectations. Nothing in the epic tradition or in biblical interpretation can prepare us for the Satan who hurtles into view in Book 1, with his awesome energy and defiance, incredible fortitude, and, above all, magnificent rhetoric. For some readers ... Satan is the true hero of the poem. But Milton is engaged in a radical reevaluation of epic values, and Satan's version of heroism must be contrasted with those of the loyal Abdiel and the Son of God. Moreover, the poem's truly epic action takes place not on the battlefield but in the moral and domestic arena. Milton's Adam and Eve are not conventional epic heroes, but neither are they the conventional Adam and Eve. Their state of innocence is not childlike, tranquil, and free of sexual desire" - "Introduction to Paradise Lost," The Norton Anthology of English Literature

The following are a few of the main themes that run through Paradise Lost.

The story of humanity is bittersweet: we lost Paradise, but it has been regained through God's works of redemption.

The poet details Adam and Eve's fall from innocence in Paradise Lost. It is the most epic tragedy in human history and especially heartbreaking after we have seen them live happily in Eden.

However, the poem reminds us that God worked their act of disobedience into a greater good. Because of the Fall, we can know God's love and mercy differently and powerfully. We can see his humility and compassion through Jesus Christ.

Although Paradise Lost focuses on Adam and Eve as individuals, it also zooms out to consider the whole human race. Seen in the final chapter, book 12.

We cannot blame the consequences of our actions on Fate or God because we have been given free will.

The Satan of Paradise Lost is a profoundly bitter individual. Rather than own up and confess his mistakes, he blames everything on God. He even claims that God gave him ambition only to punish him for it.

On the other hand, God and the angels insist throughout the poem that all of God's subjects have free will. They have the strength to obey or disobey. Satan chooses to disobey, while God's Son chooses to sacrifice himself to save humanity. Although Adam and Eve choose to sin, they quickly confess and so maintain their relationship with God, even when they cannot stay in Eden.

Too much knowledge is not a good thing.

In the Genesis account, Adam and Eve sin by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

In Paradise Lost, even before they eat from the tree, Adam clearly thirsts to know everything he can about the universe, pestering the angels with questions about its creation. The angel Raphael has to tell Adam multiple times not to let his thoughts get too lofty: he warns that so much knowledge is for God only.

Milton extends that theme of knowledge throughout the entire epic. Since he lived and wrote around the time of the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, he may be directly warning his contemporaries not to put knowledge and science above God.

Pride goes before a Fall—literally.

A huge theme in Paradise Lost is the danger of puffing oneself up above the station God has given you.

In both Satan's case and Adam and Eve's case, pride leads to their disobedience. They believe that they can be like God. They reason their way around His clear commands and aspire to know as much as He knows.