Paradise Lost in Review

Here's to our last blog post!!

Of course, the one time we read two "chapters" of a book, its the one book that I want to read in it's entirety.

I think Paradise Lost was my biggest in class reading success thus far this semester. Granted, that first sentence threw us all for a loop (especially when Dr. MB drew the sentence out... Like, whaaaaat?!) But, this is the first book that we've read this semester where I wanted to keep reading and reading until there wasn't anything left to read out of this thing!

PL was right up my alley in terms of content. With Beowulf, I was interested in the back story; what the author DIDN'T tell us rather than what they did. Beowulf awakened my imagination with "What if..." questions. I wanted to know everything about Grendel and his mommy dearest. I was convinced (and still am) that Grendel's story was bigger than what we were able to experience in the poem of Beowulf. PL was exactly the same! We were able to take a glimpse into something that no one could possibly even fathom (except for Milton, of course!)

I mean, sure, Grendel COULD have had a bigger back story than originally thought. Maybe. But to take on what happened to make Satan and his followers fall from Heaven? That's a tall order and I was digging it the whole time! PL really made me think about what the Bible doesn't say and what was left out that we won't ever knew to begin with.

I have always been a huge religion buff. I love learning about different theories regarding Heaven, Hell, Satan, angels, demons, devils EVERYTHING! So this book was perfect for me. Everything from Satan's push out of Heaven to meeting Sin and Death was so friggin' awesome. Because, honestly, no one ever really thinks of this stuff until someone brings it up in some way. We wouldn't have thought about Satan, Sin, Death, "demonocracy" <-- thanks Brendan, if it weren't for Paradise Lost. This book made me scratch my head with questions in the best way possible.

It's just an interesting concept that feeds my brain. I have all these questions and no answers and I want to know! Even just getting someone's interpretation or general idea about these things is so cool, to me. I'm starting to understand how Dr. Faustus felt. Now, I wouldn't go as far as to make a deal with Satan to get these answers but I'd come pretty close!

It's been fun socializing and discussing with everyone about what we have read this semester!

Smooth Talkers

I totally get the idea general idea of Satan=bad and God=good, but this just makes you want to cheer for Satan (initially...for like five minutes...until we talked in class). He is literally in the worst place imaginable and he is making it better for himself. Granted that means taking advantage of the other devils who think they're part of a democracy. Then again I can't say I blame them because I  fell for it too, so I guess that's the point. He can convince anyone of anything. He talks his way into being in charge, out of hell, and through purgatory. That's pretty impressive.
He reminds me of this guy Hunter I went to high school with. This guy could convince teachers that he had everything figured out and knew everything. He would just make up some BS, wordy summary so that it sounded like he knew what he was talking about. I remember one time specifically he had asked me to tell him what happened in Brave New World and me being me assumed he was just confused about it. Then he told my description of it to the teacher and got the credit for it. I don't know that I cared so much as I was jealous that he was just BSed his way through class, yet I had to read the whole book.
Back on topic though, of course all the other devils fell for it. Who wouldn't? Satan convinces a daughter that he fogot about and damned to hell to open up the gates that God said not to open. That's pretty impressive. I'm ridiculously stubborn and I'm pretty sure if my father forgot about me he wouldn't really be able to convince me of anything other than that he's a horrible person. The more you leanr about his daughter the worse you feel for her. His poor daughter had an incestuous relationship with her father that produced death, then death raped her and now she's stuck having hell hounds. Fun Fact: I would not be forgiving the person who put me in that situation...ever. Once again though I have never faced Satan, he's probably not only convincing but intimidating. It not just Sin though, I feel bad for the other devils too. I feel like they just got tricked into this because Satan smooth talked them. Without him they would all still be up in heaven enjoying life, but because he's selfish he took all those other devils down with him. I would say that he's smart because he can convice all these devils that he's the good guy, but he tried to fight God and that's pretty stupid. That's probably not the smartest idea, if all the stories I've been hearing for the last nineteen years are true then He isn't the type of guy you want to piss off. So yeah, I cheered for Satan for a little bit. I think it was purely out of confusion.

Demonocracy

I must say, I'm liking these diplomatic, levelheaded, blunt demons. First we get Mephistophilis, now we see all, er, most of these demons calmly advocating for their opinion at Pandemonium. I swear I would side with some of them if I didn't know they were....demons.

Though this could be seen as making fun of political discussion, I think the debate scene is extremely important. I'm so used to reading or watching stories about demons who are ruthlessly emotional and vengeful and blah blah blah. It's enthralling to read what demons have to say when they engage in this type of discourse, at least in Milton's mind. The further personification of demons and devils in the stories we've read is not only interesting, it's sobering. When one reads a story that paints demons as logical, cunning, and creative, one cannot help but wonder the message the author is trying to send. When demons are relatable, that's when there's something afoot.

There are several moments in the meeting that jumped out to me. One was when the demons were discussing what to do and the topic turned to the creation of a new race called man. I'm not sure why, but that part was very potent and deep to me. Another was that Satan essentially rules over the other demons. While they can (and do) weigh their options, it's Satan who has the final word. It's also Satan who undertakes the task of going out to find the information about the new race.  When nobody else could decide, he steps in and takes the matter in his own hands.

QUESTION: Which of the demons do you think has the best plan? Objectively, I would say Mammon probably had the best plan, which was to make do with what they have in Hell and not incur God's wrath any further. They have empirical knowledge of God's power (burning lake) and they're not at that point anymore, so why make it worse when it has finally gotten better?

Is Hell Paradise?

Moloch desire for war is impressive. After losing to God he wants to keep going. He says let those who want to stay and accept the situation rest while the ones who want to fight, fight. I feel like Moloch is taking on the leadership qualities, Lucifer should have. Back in Book 1, Lucifer was almost regretting what he had done. While he is on a pilgrimage to earth, the devils are free to do what they like. The feeling of having nothing to lose, so why not fight. Moloch wants to finish what they started. He has nothing good to say about God. To me his language suggested that he was a manipulator. He told his followers but he wanted them to hear and exploited them. The criticism of Gods leadership is a large subject in paradise lost. It makes you think of how Milton perceived God. What I am reading in this story is that God is a liar. When we get descriptions of him, they are not very flattering. “He seemed for dignity composed and high exploit, but all was false and hollow though his tongue dropped manna and could make the worse appear the better reason to perplex and dash matures counsels.” I was taught that God is just and to always out your faith in him. I have questions for Milton. The way God is described by the fallen angles, the way he sees them? Or is he describing Him this way because they oppose one another?  There is some hateful language in this poem.  It also brings into question was free will only given to Adam and Eve? Moloch is war bound, he seems to live for the fight and has some heated animosity towards God. Sounds like daddy issues to me. Belial speaks with reason. He knows there is no going back. This makes me think of the Colonies revolting against the British. The fight for independence from an oppressive entity. Could their cause be justified? If God was this way, why do we see the angels that fell as the ones who did wrong? I like the line “this deep world of darkness do we dread? How oft admist thick clouds and dark doth Heav’n resembles Hell? The idea of Heaven being a hell in its own way. so does that mean, Hell, the place they are in now is their paradise? I don’t know.

Devil, oh Devil.

What is Miltion trying to tell me?! After pondering what to write this blog post about, I’ve come the conclusion that I’m just going to attempt to answer my own questions. A few things have stood out to me. Now, I do NOT have an in depth religious background. I checked out of Sunday school around age 9.

Beezlebub questions why God banished them to hell. What was God’s plan for them? Why do they even still exist? Satan does not seem to think that this is such a bad thing. If they’re banished to hell for eternity, that must mean they don’t have to listen God anymore, right? Satan wants to think of ways to consistently anger God.

This also brought the battle of Good vs Evil to the forefront of my mind. Is the human race, in which Satan says God will create, truly be the downfall? And reign evil like, all over the world? Yes, human will sin, just as Adam and Eve did, but there are also humans so good that they’re convinced that they will be saved, despite their wrong-doings.

I also found myself rooting for Milton’s Devil. It’s like, even though he’s bound in hell, he’s still bound and determined to never bow to God’s will. That’s tenacity I have to admire.

This compilation of thoughts has led to a very random blog post.

Also, this South Park Satan is all I can picture while reading this book.

I am Lost

I am confused by Paradise Lost. When I read the epic poem, I could follow it for a while and then I would get extremely lost. Also, I would find a part where I understood again and then I would get lost again and I kept going through that vicious cycle.

I do think that I feel sorry for Satan and his followers, but I'm not entirely sure if I feel sorry for him, I'm sorry that he is in the situation. I think that sorry might be the wrong word to describe how I feel because I don’t feel any sympathy towards them or their situation; I just think that it would suck to be the king/ruler of Hell. The way that Milton described Hell, it seems miserable (kind of the point) but still. From lines 61-69 Milton describes Hell and it makes me never want to do another bad thing for fear that I might go there. Milton writes, “No light but darkness visible… And rest can never dwell, hope never comes….” There is no hope once you have entered Hell and no rest, only torture.

I think that I feel bad for Satan because he is the king of all of this darkness. Being the ruler of everything sad must be hard, especially since he has seen the wonderfulness that is Heaven, and now he is condemned to be the ruler of eternal torture.

I also don’t feel sorry for Satan because rather than accepting what he has done and hoping that one day God will forgive him and let him go back, he seeks to get revenge.  Also because he seems like he wasn’t happy in Heaven. He says “Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven,” which I took to mean that in Heaven he was in Hell, and now he’s in Hell, so he’s in the same place even though the scenery has changed a bit. Am I interpreting that right? Do you think that he is happy being in Hell?

I said all of this to say that I think that the reason that Milton told us so much about Satan before getting to Adam and Eve, was to show that everyone has a backstory and a reason for doing what they do. In Satan’s case, he is trying to get revenge on Heaven and God.

 

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven!  I don’t agree with you there, Satan.

Paradise and I are Lost

Honestly I cannot wait for our next class so we can discuss because I am quite lost. I am not one to say to myself "Religion?! I have opinions about that!!" because I am not one of a religious background and nor do I have much knowledge of religion which can also be a bummer. However, for the first time I think it is not the poetry that is throwing me off, but more so Milton's style which is also difficult for me to comment on because I do not have a firm grasp on that either. But that is the beauty of this class!!

What I did find interesting was the very beginning talking about Adam and Eve and the forbidden tree when they took the fruit and ate it even though that was the one thing that they were not supposed to do.

What I did understand here was the basic temptation of humanity and how that can bring out the worst in humans whether we like it or not, and sometimes the consequences follow us for however amount of time afterwards. Unfortunately this just happened to be "Man's first disobedience" so that's a real bummer.
The footnotes were somewhat helpful, however what was difficult was when there was something I personally needed a footnote explanation and there was none, I had to go off of context or Google!
The main theme I am gathering from Paradise Lost is that once we do lose ourselves and our good nature there is an endless misery among mankind because we tend (as imperfect humans) to give into the Serpent (Satan) and that downfall just continues to snowball and add upon itself. But we can thank Satan for that.

Hopefully in class today I can get more guidance, and maybe Paradise and I can find a way out!

Paradise Lost But My Paradise Found

I am a bit torn about how I feel about Paradise Lost so far. Along with most other people in the world, no doubt, I become very hesitant when I come face to face with a piece of poetry. Especially long poetry in the form of a book. However, it is the content itself that has me interested. I love religion. I love learning about different religions, and having debates about religion. Unlike most who squirm at the thought of talking about religion for fear of offending others and creating conflict, I actually enjoy discussing different beliefs and opinions. I think it's fascinating. So, the fact that Paradise Lost discusses Satan’s “loss of paradise” (a.k.a Heaven) after he and a large amount of his fellow Angels rebelled against God caused me to approach this reading with more of an open mind than I probably normally would have with poetry.

Paradise Lost caused me to consider things I had not thought of in a very long time. Questions continued to pop into my mind such as “Why did Satan and his followers decide to rebel against God?” and “If God is omnipotent, why did He not put an end to the rebellion or stop Eve from eating the apple before she did it?” However, Milton later reveals that God knew all along how everything was going to unfold and did not stop it because the betrayals were part of His plan creating an entire new level of fascination for me.

The title Paradise Lost also refers to Adam and Eve losing the their “paradise” on earth. In the “first act of disobedience against God”, Satan tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. His seduction led to everything bad found in the world now: death, sickness and disease, fear, and pain.

I think this is very interesting. Just the fact that an act so simple as eating an apple can cause so many problems. Just think about it, think about all the times you were tempted into doing something you knew you shouldn't have. Think about all the times you thought “It will be ok. It's nothing big. It won't matter.” That's exactly what Eve thought and look at what happened. It kind of puts things into perspective for me. It just shows that everything you do has some kind of effect on either you or those around you, even the things you think couldn't possibly make a difference in any way.

All in all, I think, just from reading the beginning of Book 1, Paradise Lost has the potential to be great and actually hold my attention. I must admit that I am excited to continue reading it.

Not Only is Paradise Lost, I'm Lost

  So, Paradise Lost is different. I'm catching some stuff about Satan and God, Heaven and Hell, all that fun stuff. I get the Adam and Eve part and then I know it goes on to describing Satan's fall into Hell, but it loses me there. He starts off by saying that it is about men's disobedience and the fruit, which brought death, and suffering into the world. Then he switches (from what I can tell) pretty quickly into discussing Satan's fall from heaven. The one description that is generally easy to understand is about the lake of fire Satan and all his followers fall into, and how it doesn't produce any light. This part also establishes that they are in a place where hope cannot exist; making it pretty clear that this is the development of hell. This is a really helpful description to develop some sort of picture of hell in my mind. The footnotes are also super helpful at some points, they help to make some sense of what I just read. Especially since there are biblical references, and references to early Christian beliefs that most Christians now wouldn't even know about. Like the note that talks about Christians believing the Greek Gods were devils in disguise, I had no idea that this was a belief ever. I wish that I could tell more what was happening because I feel like it could be really interesting. Then his sentence structure just keeps helping me not understand. I feel like I read a lot of words and they’re just words.  I know that if I really understood this I could probably spend quite a bit of time admiring his work, but right now it’s not there yet. There is very little deeper meaning when you can’t understand what is happening. It’s not a different language, but the structure and the order of words, and the general deep descriptions of things make it confusing for me. I don’t think I’ll be alone in saying that I’m confused, but I would also like to state that I do not want to go back to Middle English anytime soon.  I mean altogether I would say I'm pretty lost. 

The minute Dr. MB mentioned that it was about Satan's fall from Heaven I thought of Emperor's New Clothes and how the video fits that.