Paige gardner julia naviaux eng 230: 003 february 1, 2013 explication essay. paradise lost lines 80 134 the debate of free will versus predestination is a very common, prevalent topic in any q amp amp a session or even religious sermon. Satan as the hero of paradise lost satan arousing the rebel angels, william blake 1808 leontien kouwenhoven 1260707 supervisor: dr. Macdonald 06 03 2009 doctoraalscriptie engelse taal en cultuur faculteit der letteren rijksuniversiteit groningen wordcount. Introduction modern criticism of paradise lost has taken many different views of milton's ideas in the poem. One problem is that paradise lost is almost militantly christian in an age that now seeks out diverse viewpoints and admires the man who stands forth against the accepted view.

Milton's religious views reflect the time in which he lived and the church to which he belonged. His purpose or theme in paradise lost is relatively easy to see, if not to accept. Milton begins paradise lost by saying that he will sing, of man's first disobedience i, 1 so that he can assert eternal providence, / and justify the ways of god to men i, 25 26. The purpose or theme of paradise lost then is religious and has three parts: 1 disobedience, 2 eternal providence, and 3 justification of god to men. Frequently, discussions of paradise lost center on the latter of these three to the exclusion of the first two. And, just as frequently, readers and those casually acquainted with paradise lost misunderstand what milton means by the word justify. Assuming that milton is rather arrogantly asserting that god's actions and motives seem so arbitrary that they require vindication and explanation.

However, milton's idea of justification is not as arrogant as many readers think. Milton does not use the word justification in its modern sense of proving that an action is or was proper. Such a reading of justify would mean that milton is taking it upon himself to explain the propriety of god's actions a presumptuous undertaking when one is dealing with any deity.

How to Quote a Phrase From a Book In An Essay

Rather, milton uses justify in the sense of showing the justice that underlies an action. Milton wishes to show that the fall, death, and salvation are all acts of a just god. To understand the theme of paradise lost then, a reader does not have to accept milton's ideas as a vindication of god's actions rather the reader needs to understand the idea of justice that lies behind the actions.

Disobedience the first part of milton's argument hinges on the word disobedience and its opposite, obedience. The universe that milton imagined with heaven at the top, hell at the bottom, and earth in between is a hierarchical place. The worldview of the middle ages, renaissance, and restoration was that all of creation was arranged in various hierarchies. The proper way of the world was for inferiors to obey superiors because superiors were, well, superior.

A king was king not because he was chosen but because he was superior to his subjects. Conversely, if the king proved unfit or not superior to his subjects, it was morally improper to obey him and revolution could be justified. God, being god, was by definition superior to every other thing in the universe and should always be obeyed. In paradise lost, god places one prohibition on adam and eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge. The prohibition is not so much a matter of the fruit of the tree as it is obeying god's ordinance. The proper running of the universe requires the obedience of inferiors to their superiors.

By not obeying god's rule, adam and eve bring calamity into their lives and the lives of all mankind. The significance of obedience to superiors is not just a matter of adam and eve and the tree of knowledge it is a major subject throughout the poem. Satan's rebellion because of jealousy is the first great act of disobedience and commences all that happens in the epic. When abdiel stands up to satan in book v, abdiel says that god created the angels in their bright degrees 838 and adds his laws our laws 844. Abdiel's point is that satan's rebellion because of the son is wrong because satan is disobeying a decree of his obvious superior.

Further instances of the crucial importance of both hierarchy and obedience occur in both large and small matters. The deference with which adam greets raphael shows the human accepting his position in regard to the angel. The crucial moment in the poem results from disobedience and a breakdown of hierarchy. Eve argues with adam about whether they should work together or apart, and adam gives in to her.

Eve should not argue with her superior, adam, but likewise, adam, should not yield his authority to his inferior, eve. When eve eats the fruit, one of her first thoughts is that the fruit may render me more equal ix, 823 to which she quickly adds, for inferior who is free? ix, 826. Freedom comes precisely from recognizing one's place in the grand scheme and obeying the dictates of that position. By disobeying god, eve has gained neither equality nor freedom she has instead lost paradise and brought sin and death into the world. Finally, in the last two books of the epic, milton shows example after example of people who ignore the responsibilities they have and try to either raise themselves above god or disobey god's commands. The first part of milton's purpose in paradise lost then is to show that disobedience leads to a breakdown of hierarchical or social order with disastrous consequences.

Paradise Lost Book 1 Essay Topics Text

How to Quote a Phrase From a Book In An Essay

How to Write An Essay on My Ipad