Paradise Lost

Book 1 begins with Milton’s identification of the overall subject of his poem. Milton presents himself as the narrator of the poem, in which he plays the role of historian, poet, and commentator on the human psyche. Milton adapts the epic form of poetry, seeking to create an Odyssey befitting his culture, language, and Christian heritage. Milton’s goal to trace the story of the fall of Adam and Eve to Jesus, the greater man who will seek to right the wrongs begun by Adam and Eve, is a lofty one, as he strives to condense centuries of history from the Bible into a poem. Knowing how important his ambition is, and how complicated an endeavor, Milton calls upon a muse, a characteristic gesture made by classicists whom Milton admires and seeks to emulate. Milton’s muse, however, is different than that of the classics he’s read before—his muse is the Holy Spirit, the third member of the traditional Christian Trinity. By calling upon this muse, Milton further cements his goal of writing a Christian epic, a wholly new type of epic.

Milton begins by exploring the genesis of the fall of humankind, which eventually propels the coming of Jesus Christ and the salvation of humankind. This is an important plot structure, as beginning in medias res, or in the middle of the action, is uncharacteristic of the epic genre. Milton starts by giving a voice to the antagonist, Satan, a former angel who defies God’s power and seeks to overthrow the structure of Heaven. Satan’s character is necessarily persuasive; he must lead thousands of fallen angels and also tempt humans into sin. His power is highlighted by Milton’s comparison of Satan with Amram’s son Moses, who led people to Christianity. Though Moses and Satan are on opposite spectrums of good and evil, the juxtaposition of their morality is secondary to the comparison of their sheer power and ability to influence thousands.

Milton foreshadows the degradation of human belief in the Christian God at the hands of the devils through layered focus on some of Satan’s most prominent followers. This focus on figures such as Moloch, Mammon, and Belial underscore Satan’s evil—Milton uses these devils to remind the reader that Satan’s followers are debased and immoral, rendering Satan’s influence as only powerful over those who are already evil. This helps highlight Satan’s evil, an important emphasis because Satan can also be seen as a hero in certain lights. Milton’s language in describing the devils is purposeful, and the “fallen” angels are fallen in two ways. The first is literal: They have fallen from the great height of Heaven to the deep depth of Hell. The second is metaphorical in that they have also fallen from the beautiful and loved beings they were in Heaven to the grotesque and maligned beings they now are in Hell. Milton extends his use of the double meaning of “fallen” in reference to the idolatry practiced by people who follow devil-inspired icons instead of the Christian God. The term “exile” is also meant as “made other” or “fallen.” This parallel to the fallen angels connects the many sins of non-Christian religions with the devilish work of the fallen angels.

Milton also creates an important symbol at the conclusion of Book 1: Pandaemonium, the temple built by the devils in Hell. The temple is the symbolic space for the democracy supposedly practiced by Satan in Hell. Instead of asserting himself as the next God, he invites his followers to participate in a conversation. The name of this temple is also used in English to describe utter chaos, potentially an implication that this democracy leads to chaos, a direct threat to the hierarchy practiced in Heaven by the all-mighty and all-powerful God.