Paper 1        Poetry

Classical Poetry

Paradise Lost        Milton

Paradise Lost: Characters

Character Analysis

Character Analysis

The ruler and creator of the universe, the traditional Christian God without the third person of the Trinity (the Holy Spirit). God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, but he demands total obedience from his creatures. While God allows angels and humans to have free will, he also is eternal, existing outside of time, and so foresees all future events. Therefore even Satan’s rebellion and the Fall of Man fit into God’s overarching plan, which brings good out of evil.

God the Son

Character Analysis

The second person of the Trinity, equal to God and of the same essence, but a different person. In the traditional Christian Trinity the Son is eternally “begotten” of the Father, but in Milton’s cosmos the Father begets the Son at a specific point and then elevates him to divinity. The Son is more active than the Father in Paradise Lost, creating the Earth, volunteering to die for humanity’s sake, and entering Eden to punish Adam and Eve. The Son later becomes incarnate as Jesus, who dies and rises from the dead, defeating Death and Satan. The Son will then return to join Heaven and Earth into one Paradise.

Adam

Character Analysis

The first human and the father of mankind. Adam is created as perfect – beautiful, innocent, and wise – but even in his unfallen state he is eager for forbidden knowledge and attracted by Eve’s physical beauty. Milton saw men as inherently superior to women, so Adam is greater than Eve in wisdom, strength, and closeness to God.

Eve

Character Analysis

The first woman, Eve is created out of Adam’s rib. She is slightly inferior to him and must “submit” to his will. As soon as she is created Eve shows a fascination with her own beauty, gazing at her reflection. Eve is the first to be tempted by Satan and the first to eat the fruit that causes the Fall.

Sin

Character Analysis

Satan’s daughter who sprang from his head when he first conceived of disobedience, and then Satan incestuously impregnated her. When she is cast into Hell, Sin becomes a monster with the lower half of a serpent and a circle of hell-hounds around her waist, constantly gnawing at her. God gives her the keys to Hell, but she immediately gives them to Satan. She gives birth to Death and then enters Earth after the Fall, infecting all humans with sin.

Death

Character Analysis

A black, terrifying figure with an insatiable hunger. Death is the product of Satan and Sin’s incestuous union, and after his birth he immediately pursues his mother and rapes her, fathering the dogs that torment her. Death enters Earth after the Fall and causes all life to succumb to him.

Paradise Lost Symbols

The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge
Symbol Analysis

One of the most famous symbols in history, the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is the only fruit that God forbids Adam and Eve to eat of all the trees in Eden. The fruit is delicious-looking and aromatic, but Adam and Eve have no trouble resisting it until Satan tricks Eve into eating the fruit, as she hopes to gain knowledge and value. In itself the fruit gives knowledge of good and evil, which Adam and Eve lack in their innocent ignorance, but the importance of the fruit is that they eat it despite God’s commandment. The knowledge the Tree gives is not inherently sinful, but disobeying God by eating of the Tree is sinful. The fruit that Eve and Adam eat then becomes the ultimate symbol – a single small thing that represents the cause of all the evil and suffering in the world.

The Scales in the Sky
Symbol Analysis

When Satan is discovered in Paradise and confronted by Gabriel, God causes a pair of golden scales to appear in the sky, the scales on which God weighs the outcomes of every event. On one side of the scales is Satan running away, and on the other side is the result of him staying and fighting. This second side flies up, showing its emptiness and worthlessness. Satan accepts the inevitable truth of this outcome and chooses to run away. The scales represent God’s supreme power over both his Angels and the rebellious devils, as he exists outside of time and knows all possible futures. Satan had once thought himself as powerful as God, but after his defeat he realizes there is no way to overthrow the omnipotent God. Satan is then forced to resort to fraud and trickery instead of open revolt, and even then he only acts as God allows him to – he accepts the power of God’s “scales,” and merely tries to cause as much pain as he can with his allotted power.