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.

WHY HOMEWORK?! WHY?

So I would like to say (mostly for effect) that Paradise Lost is unlike anything that I have ever read before…but that would be untrue.
“What Julia, you're SO smart that you simply read stuff like this?! Pretentious little…”
No no! Let me finish. I have had a similar reading experience before…when I was in first grade.

What?
I know, I know. But listen…before I was in prestigious Hood college classes, such as this one, I was in the lowest reading group in first grade. Why? Because I was small and didn't speak up much.
Nice.
But anyway...I was in kindergarten a YEAR before my town got our shiny new primary school, and instead was in a tiny school with grades K-5 (yes…with kids ages five to eleven).

Not only this, but the teachers were in a transition period between the cramped school we were at and the fancy smancy new school in progress, making the them distracted a best.

“You snooze, you loose” is a horrible saying to use when referring to an educational environment, but that's exactly how it was. Sure my teachers were nice, sure I learned about dinosaurs and how to count by fives, but I had a character trait (and still do)  that isn't appreciated as much as it should be: shyness.
I didn't call out in class enough, which made my teachers come to the logical conclusion that I was slow (logically).

I was kept at a low level in first grade and never spoke up in class (because you know, I was six), and it wasn't until my father marched into a parent teacher conference, with my mother hanging nervously on his sleeve and silently begging him to not yell at the kind, young, fresh-out-of-college teacher, that I was boosted up to the highest reading group overnight.

Go mom and dad, right?! Wrong. As I said, I was six, and a smart little thing.I had it good. My afternoon consisted of twenty minutes of “see Spot run” and an hour and a half of SpongeBob and Rugrats. I now had to read “Look how Spot runs to the fence after the ball,” a painful process that always took over an hour, reading word by word by word. It was the first time I was challenged, but what was the point? Rugrats was on and it was time for my chocolate milk. (Seriously mom.)


Fast forward fourteen years (and zoom past the pains of puberty) and here I am, with the cynical arrogance of a liberal arts student. I've read Faulkner, ya know? Well then I get Paradise Lost…I look at the first page…

And oh my gosh, I'm back in first grade again…

Feeling frustrated, trying desperately to cut corners of this text that cannot be read without time, and a great deal of respect.
Respect. It's humbling reading something that is genuinely above your level of comprehension, isn't it?
Humbling and aggravating…
Because my show is still on, and I still want my chocolate milk.

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.

Opulence and Diplomacy

Something that immediately stuck out to me when I was reading Book Two was the first few lines of poetry. They read "High on a throne of royal state which far/ Outshone the wealth of Ormus and Ind/ Or where the gorgeous East with the richest hand/ Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold/ Satan exalted sat" (2.1-5). The reason that this stuck out to me is because I never pictured Hell as having something so opulent and fantastic. Hell, to me, kind of looks like the places that I get thrown into when I play Diablo 3. For those who have never played that game, here is an example:

Fiery, terrifying, and filled with things that wants to eat you/cause you pain. Yeah, that has always summed up Hell for me. Heaven, well, I have always pictured a golden gate at the entrance with beautiful architecture and angels everywhere. Milton's Hell is very strange to me. First of all, it seems like these devils are very diplomatic. Rather than Satan immediately making all of the decisions, he does get some input from some of the other devils. He even asks for their opinions on the matter at hand. He tells them "Whether of open war or cover guile-/ We now debate. Who can advise may speak" (2.41-42). I found that really interesting because he has already established himself as their leader. Furthermore, while they have just been defeated, he seemed pretty upset and ready to fight again in the first book. I think it is important to note that he is not just making rash and foolhardy decisions, he is actually taking the time to plan out this entire thing. I think that is also speaks a lot to how much he does care about the people who fell with him. He wants their input on his plans and realizes that his actions affect all of them. Furthermore, he is the one who decides to go to earth. He volunteers himself rather than making one of his subordinates go. Do not get me wrong, I am not getting a soft spot for Satan. The guy does a lot of really questionable things, but I found his actions in Book Two, at least in terms of the people stuck with him, to be very interesting. What do you guys think about Book Two? How is is compared to Book One? (I personally am finding it easier to read)

Paradise Lost Book II

Okay so I wont lie, I was kind of rooting for Satan for a while, I mean before I read about the really terrible things he has done. But at this point in the book my mind has really changed. Also what is particularly interesting to me about book two is that we encounter the first female character in the book, Sin, who is the daughter of Satan. It is interesting that Milton decided to make Sin a female character and then Eve who chooses sin in the garden is also a women. I think there would be room there for a queer analysis of Paradise Lost which would be a really fun paper probably. It is also fascinating that the hell hounds are a result of Sin being raped by Death. Why should Sin have a physical trauma symbol from the incident? This was also an interesting choice by Milton.

Onward to the debate/discussion the devils had about how to get back at or heal their relationship with God. Personally I would have not gone with the final plan they chose, I thought some of the other plans were far more reasonable. I was not really into Molach's plan, he seems like he is just into war mongering and violence to the extreme. Belial had some really reasonable points to counter his argument as well, in fact Belial's argument is most definitely the most reasonable and plausible one of them all. In much literature on God, he will forgive those who sin, this is often seen as the very nature of God.  The forgiveness at least. Mammon is an interesting demon because he wants to make hell their own kingdom of heaven, now thats also a pretty good idea in my opinion. But how would the devils really have freedom if Satan had the last word about everything? The kingdom of hell, had they gone with Mammon's idea, is an interesting concept. It reminds me of in Book I when Milton was describing the golden "temples" of hell.