Self & Society: British Lit @Hood College

Alone and without guide, half lost, I seek (line 975)

"He above the rest/In shape and gesture proudly eminent/Stood like a tower.His form had yet not lost/All her original brightness nor appeared/Less than archangel ruined and th' excess/Of glory obscured"(589-595).

"Darkened so, yet shone Above them all th' archangel, but his face Deep scars of thunder had entrenched and care Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows Of dauntless courage and consid'rate pride Waiting revenge." (599-604)

"Thus they relate,/Erring. For he with his rebellious rout/ fell long before..." (746-748).

In the reading I found this short paragraph interesting. "But He who reigns Monarch in Heav'n til then as one secure Sat on His throne upheld by old repute, Consent or custom, and His regal state Put forth at full but still His strength concealed, Which tempted our attempt and wrought our fall. Henceforth His might we know, and know our own, So as not either to provoke or dread New war provoked." (637-345) Who are they to blame God for their failed attempt in trying to take over his kingship? They believed that they were smarter than God and knew his strength, but God didn't reveal how powerful he was to them. Since God's full power wasn't revealed, they believed that they were powerful enough to overthrow him. Why would they think that they could power over someone who they used to worship, and most importantly someone who created them? How disloyal and selfish.

Though the wording and writing of this piece makes it challenging to read and understand, it gives it a beautiful twist and allows the reader to enjoy something other than modern English. I like the use of the biblical story. I am not particularly religious though I was able to understand and recognize the story of Adam and Eve. The idea that Satan and God are opposites goes along with how I've always viewed the two subjects. The way Satan was portrayed was clever and interesting. It seems like he may be the main character or person of the story. Generally in stories the main person is the good guy, Satan being the good guy would be very strange. Given that Satan is more commonly known as the bad guy, literally the Devil.

There were two major things that caught me off guard while reading this text. The first is that I was pleasantly surprised to find Milton's use of calling on the Muses to help write this ("Sing Heav'nly Muse"). It's very reminiscent of Ancient Greek epic poetry, and to me, it signified that there would be trials and tribulations waiting for these characters. The second is that Satan is apparently the size of Classical Greek Titans and Giants??? I had always imagined him as being a bit bigger than the average sized human (maybe like 9 foot tall, max), but I suppose now I know where the whole depiction of Satan being a terrifyingly ginormous guy came from. I think that the most confusing thing about this is the setting? It sounds like Satan and Beezebub are floating in a fiery lake, but then all the other fallen are in a fiery lake as well? Did I read that right? Is it the same lake or are there a bunch of fiery lakes in Hell? Also, are the rest of the fallen as big...

When I was reading this section of Paradise Lost , the lines that immediately struck me were "One, who brings/ A mind not to be chang'd by place or time./ The mind is its own place, and in itself/ Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven" (252-255) and "Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven" (263). I'm not incredibly well-versed in biblical stories, but what I had gathered was that Hell was a place that Lucifer was banished to. However, Milton is writing as if Hell is Lucifer's safe haven from God, a place where he can finally be free. It also seems that Lucifer swears to perform evil deeds not because he specifically desires to, but because it is the exact opposite of what God is supposed to do. Even within these first 375 lines, Milton is creating a character that is much more layered than what is commonly believed, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out later on. 

           Typically when I think of Satan (not that I often do) I think of a singular bitter old man/bad guy. I really like how in the text he not only has an army, which many villains have, but he also has a "right hand man" or second in command. To me it seems like it evens the playing field a bit and makes for a more interesting fight. God verse the Devil makes since and is not that exciting of a battle because the outcome is very predictable, there would be nothing to keep you engaged. How ever the though of a whole lot of people being against God is a lot more intriguing.

This passage led me to wondering why snakes are always the sneaky evil animal in old tales. This prompted me to google “why are snakes always evil” which led to the newfound knowledge that the whole snakes=evil thing was fairly widespread outside of christianity as well. I am still left wondering why snakes are always used to represent evil. Is it because they don’t have legs? In this passage the author refers to the Bible story of Adam and Eve and that pesky snake as the root of evil. Why not an evil bird or a lying meerkat?

"Adam and Eve with the Serpent, (Genesis IIIA, verse 6" engraving by Francesco Villamena https://art.famsf.org/francesco-villamena/adam-and-eve-serpent-genesis-iii-verse-6-19633036286     The opening lines of Paradise Lost contain the traditional invocation of the Muses, as the poet calls upon the Divine to inspire his tale. The rest of this section describes the insurrection of angels in Heaven, their punishment, and the continuing plot to subvert the creations of God. Is it just me, or is the difference between some of these demons/fallen angels really unclear? It feels like no two stories can agree. Some versions have Beelzebub, Lucifer, Asmodeus, et cetera presented as seperate entities, while others claim these are all names for the same being known to different cultures. Is this the result of Christianity absorbing so many other religious traditions during its history?