Characters

Satan

Satan is the first major character introduced in the poem. Formerly called Lucifer, he was the most beautiful of all angels in Heaven, and is a tragic figure who describes himself with the now-famous quote“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”He is introduced to Hell after he leads a failed rebellion to wrest control of Heaven from God. Satan's desire to rebel against his creator stems from his unwillingness to be subjugated by God and his Son, claiming that angels are“self-begot, self-raised, ”and thereby denying God's authority over them as their creator.

Satan is deeply arrogant, albeit powerful and charismatic. Satan's persuasive powers are evident throughout the book; not only is he cunning and deceptive, but he is also able to rally the fallen angels to continue in the rebellion after their agonizing defeat in the Angelic War. He argues that God rules as a tyrant and that all the angels ought to rule as gods. Though commonly understood to be the antagonizing force in Paradise Lost, Satan may be best defined as a tragic or Hellenic hero. According to William McCollom, one quality of the classical tragic hero is that he is not perfectly good and that his defeat is caused by a tragic flaw, as Satan causes both the downfall of man and the eternal damnation of his fellow fallen angels despite his dedication to his comrades. In addition, Satan's Hellenic qualities, such as his immense courage and perhaps, lack of completely defined morals, compound his tragic nature.

Satan's status as a protagonist in the epic poem is debatable; Milton arguably characterizes him as such, but Satan lacks several key traits that would otherwise make him the definitive protagonist in the work. One deciding factor that insinuates his role as the protagonist in the storyis that most often a protagonist is heavily characterized and far better described than the other characters, and the way the character is written is meant to make him seem more interesting or special to the reader For that matter, Satan is both well described and is depicted as being quiteversatile in that he is shown as having the capacity to do evil whilst retaining his characteristic sympathetic qualities and thus it is this complex and relatable nature makes him a likely candidate for the story's overarching protagonist.

According to Ibrahim Taha's definition of a protagonist the protagonist must be able to existin and of himself or herself and that the secondary characters in the work exist only to further the plot for the protagonist. Because Satan does not exist solely for himself, as without God he would not have a role to play in the story, he may not be viewed as protagonist because of the continual shifts in perspective and relative importance of characters in each book of the work. Satan's existence in the story involves his rebellion against God and his determination to corrupt the beings he creates in order to create evil so that there can be a discernable balance and justice for both himself and his fallen angels. Therefore, it is more probable that he exists in order to combat God, making his status as the definitive protagonist of the work relative to each book.

Satan's status as a traditional hero in the work is similarly up to debate as the term“hero”evokes different meanings depending on the time and the person giving the definition and is thus a matter of contention within the text. According to Aristotle, a hero is someone who is“superhuman, godlike, and divine”but is also human. A hero would have to either be a human with God-like powers or the offspring of God. While Milton gives reason to believe that Satanis superhuman, as he was originally an angel, he is anything but human. Therefore, according to Aristotle's definition of a hero alone, Satan is not a hero. Torquato Tasso and Francesco Piccolomini expanded on Aristotle's definition and declared that for someone to be considered heroic one has to be perfectly or overly virtuous. Satan repeatedly demonstrates a lack of virtue throughout the story as he intends to tempt God's creations with evil in order to destroy the good God is trying to create. Satan goes against God's law and therefore becomes corrupt and lacking of virtue and, as Piccolimini warned,“vice may be mistaken for heroic virtue.”Satan is very devoted to his cause, although that cause is evil but he strives to spin his sinister aspirations to appear as good ones. Satan achieves this end multiple times throughout the text as he riles up his band of fallen angels during his speech by deliberately telling them to do evil to explain God's hypocrisy and again during his entreaty to Eve. He makes his intentions seem pure and positive even when they are rooted in evil and according to Steadman, this is the chief reason that readers often mistake Satan as a hero.

Although Satan's army inevitably loses the war against God, Satan achieves a position of power and begins his reign in Hell with his band of loyal followers, composed of fallen angels, which is described to be a“third of heaven.”Satan's characterization as the leader of a failing cause folds into this as well and is best exemplified through his own quote,“to be weakis to be miserable; Doing or Suffering”, as through shared solidarity espoused by empowering rhetoric, Satan riles up his comrades in arms and keeps them focused towards their shared goal. Similar to Milton's republican sentiments of overthrowing the King of England for both better representation and parliamentary power, Satan argues that his shared rebellion with the fallen angels is an effort to“explain the hypocrisy of God”, and in doing so, they will be treated with the respect and acknowledgement that they deserve. As scholar Wayne Rebhorn argues,“Sataninsists that he and his fellow revolutionaries held their places by right and even leading him to claim that they were self-created and self-sustained”and thus Satan's position in the rebellion is much like that of his own real world creator.

Adam

Adam is the first human created by God. Though initially alone, Adam demands a mate from God. Considered God's prized creation, Adam, along with his wife, rules over all the creatures of the world and resides in the Garden of Eden. He is more gregarious than Eve, and yearns for her company. His complete infatuation with Eve, while pure in and of itself, eventually contributes to his joining her in disobedience to God.

Unlike the Biblical Adam, before he leaves Paradise this version of Adam is given a glimpse of the future of mankind(including a synopsis of stories from the Old and New Testaments)by the Archangel Michael.

Eve

Eve is the second human created by God, taken from one of Adam's ribs and shaped into a female form of Adam. Far from the traditional model of a good wife, she is often unwilling to be submissive towards Adam. She is more intelligent and curious about external ideas than her husband. Though happy, she longs for knowledge and, more specifically, self-knowledge. Her first act in existence is to turn away from Adam and look at and ponder her own reflection. Eveis extremely beautiful and thoroughly in love with Adam, though may feel suffocated by his constant presence. One day, she convinces Adam that it would be good for them to split up and work different parts of the Garden. In her solitude, she is tempted by Satan to sin against God. Adam shortly follows along with her.

The Son of God

The Son of God is the spirit who will become incarnate as Jesus Christ, though he is never named explicitly, since he has not yet entered human form. Milton's God refers to the Son as“My word, my wisdom, and effectual might”, but Milton believed in a subordinationist doctrine of Christology that regarded the Son as secondary to the Father. The poem is not explicitly anti-trinitarian, but is consistent with Milton's convictions. The Son is the ultimate hero of the epic and is infinitely powerful, single-handedly defeating Satan and his followers and driving them into Hell. The Son of God tells Adam and Eve about God's judgment after their sin. He sacrificially volunteers to journey to the World, become a man himself, and redeem the Fall of Man through his own death and resurrection. In the final scene, a vision of Salvation through the Son of God is revealed to Adam by Michael. Still, the name, Jesus of Nazareth, and the details of Jesus' story are not depicted in the poem.

God the Father

God the Father is the creator of Heaven, Hell, the world, and of everyone and everything there is, through the agency of His Son. He desires glory and praise from all his creations. He is an all-powerful, all-knowing, infinitely good being who cannot be overthrown by even the great army of angels Satan incites against him. The stated purpose of the poem is to justify the ways of God to men, so God often converses with the Son of God concerning his plans and reveals his motives regarding his actions. The poem portrays God's process of creation in the way that Milton believed it was done, with God creating Heaven, Earth, Hell, and all the creatures thatinhabit these separate planes from part of Himself, not out of nothing. Thus, according to Milton, the ultimate authority of God derives from his being the“author”of creation. Satan tries to justify his rebellion by denying this aspect of God and claiming self-creation, but he admits to himself this is not the case, and that God“deserved no such return/ From me, whom He created what I was.”

Raphael

Raphael is an archangel whom God sends to warn Adam about Satan's infiltration of Eden and to warn him that Satan is going to try to curse Adam and Eve. He also has a lengthy discussion with the curious Adam regarding creation and events which transpired in Heaven.

Michael

Michael is a mighty archangel who fought for God in the Angelic War. In the first battle, he wounds Satan terribly with a powerful sword that God designed to even cut through the substance of angels. After Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, God sends the angel Michael to visit Adam and Eve. His duty is to escort Adam and Eve out of Paradise. Before he does this, Michael shows Adam visions of the future which cover an outline of the Bible,from the story of Cain and Abelin Genesis,up through the story of Jesus Christin the New Testament.

Introduction to Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost was written in such a historical period.The theme of Paradise Lost was chosen from the foundation of American literary-Bible. Some of these theological concepts and terminology related to human nature is essential for understanding the epic. The theme of Paradise Lost was chosen from the“Genesis.”He gave the only 100 words bizarre story twists and turns and made it a new epic.

Paradise Lostis consisted of 12 parts.Part 1,the reasons and results of the events;part 2, Satan and angles discuss how to fight against God; part 3, God decides how to give human a gift;part 4, Satan meets with Adam and Eve and his temptation; part 5, the angels warn Adam about Satan's temptation; part 6, the angels and Satan fight against God; part 7, Adam asks angles about world problems, and gets answers; part 8, Adam asks angles about how celestial bodies run, but he is not satisfied with the answers; part 9, Satan pretends as a snake and ask Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; part 10, God is so angry and Adam also regrets; part11, Adam and Eve are expelled from the Paradise; part 12, Adam and Eve leave the paradise and then lost the paradise.

Paradise Lost describes that:after escaping the dungeon,Satan went to the God to establish the Garden of Eden for human ancestors-Adam and Eve. They ate the forbidden fruit tree due to the temptation of Satan. Therefore, because of their ignorance and depravity, God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Their fault was the original sin of human which caused death, suffering, famine, pestilence on Earth. However, God still gave human the chance to salvation. God sent Jesus Christ to do redemption price, so that mankind could return to paradise with tough faith and sincere repentance. Milton revealed the failure of State and the Church through the research of history. Many of his controversial works reflect this phenomenon. Many commentators have analyzed the works of Milton. The commentators who convinced the Marxist said that: in society, all undertakings of the literature who were keen on promoting the development of cultural were ultimately based on economic change. John Milton is a British progressive camp and a typical representative of the bourgeoisie. His literary thought reflected in his works fully reflects the status of the English bourgeois revolution in that period.

 

Paradise Lost

 

Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes

That witness'd huge affliction and dismay

Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:

At once as far as Angels kenn he views

The dismal Situation waste and wilde,

A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round

As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames

No light, but rather darkness visible

Serv'd only to discover sights of woe,

Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace

And rest can never dwell, hope never comes

That comes to all; but torture without end

Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed

With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:

Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd

For those rebellious, here their Prison ordain'd

In utter darkness, and their portion set

As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n

As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.

O how unlike the place from whence they fell!

There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd

With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,

He soon discerns, and weltring by his side

One next himself in power, and next in crime,

Long after known in PALESTINE, and nam'd

BEELZEBUB. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,

And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words

Breaking the horrid silence thus began.

Questions

1．How do you understand the character of Satan?

2．What does Milton want to express in this poem?

3．As a college student, should we have the spirit of rebellion or obedience?

Analysis

Paradise Lost which played a powerful rolein promoting the development of the epic was the product of Puritanism, as well as rooted in Milton's personal beliefs and faith. The creative style of Milton was different from any writers after him. Although Milton was involved in Puritan movement, his religious ideas and political arguments all promoted he development of capitalism. Therefore, we can saw that secular humanism which provided a new way to deal with social problems was the combination of the thoughts of humanist and religious doctrine. It can be said,Paradise Lost was the epic of mankind,but also an epic display of human nature.Milton understood the true meaning of truth and his own environment in which he used to express the epic figures of the revolutionary ideas and his fighting spirit. And he also expressed the despair and anguish brought by the restoration.

Milton was progressive bourgeoisie in fact, and his advanced thinking related to social progress. He believed that social progress, as well as the doctrine of God was the rational laws of nature. Therefore, the advanced productive forces will eventually replace the bourgeois which hindered the pace of capitalist development. That was a perfect reflection of historicalinevitability.In Paradise Lost,the Satan fought against God and the feudal kingdom of heaven that was the civil war between the two classes. Justice would eventually prevail over evil. The King Charles I was brought to the guillotine. However, with the Republic of depravity and corruption, the bourgeoisie compromised with the House of Stuart king Charles II, and they broke the revolutionary movement the restoration together. Representatives of the advanced productive forces went against the law of social development. Milton used Adam and Eve to map the historical events. Its meaning was very clear. From an objective point of view, the masses were the driving force of historical progress and the ultimate source of social progress. But the bourgeoisie ignored the power of people. Milton expressed his own political position and revolutionary consciousness by Paradise Lost.He made a series of thinking about human nature. This was why he used human degradation to be the creative theme. Therefore, we could say that his epic was based on history. He was a devout Puritan, but his political views were applicable to the materialist outlook on life.

In Paradise Lost, the Satan was the most successful image the author shaped, especiallyin the first two volumes. He was an image of a rebel. The romantic poet, Blake Byron Shelley, highly praised for this image of heroism. He said:“Satan was on behalf of the imaginative soul of mankind.”The reason why the character Satan could get admiration of many romantic poets and readers was mostly that this image reflected the will of freedom.

First of all, the epic praised Satan's spirit of resistance.

In traditional concepts, Satan was the devil from hell, the scum of angels, human enemies. Because of his ambition and rebellion he was thrown into the abyss of misery by God. However,in Paradise Lost,the poet portrayed Satan as a brave hero that went against the usual religious beliefs.

The intention of describing this extraordinary momentum and power of Satan was to emphasis his courageous and prudent and his spirit of hating tyrants and resisting God. Although the struggle was failed, but he had never doubted that his struggle was a justice action, he had never regretted to fall into hell where he suffered in the flames and he had never been desperate and hopeless. He convinced that his spirit of resistance would never disappear and his revolutionary willing would never depress.

It should be said that: this was the reflection of the revolutionary spirit of the bourgeois and a song of all revolutionary fighters.

The epic also describes that, after being expelled from heaven and thrown into the flames of hell, Satan was even still full of the indomitable fighting spirit. He vowed to continue the confrontation with God. When reading those words filled with courage, all readers could see his will to overcome all the difficulties and accomplish all his plans.

Second, the epic had also criticized the autocratic rule of God. Whether in the ancient Greek myth, or religious traditions, God had always been portrayed as the ruler of the universe and the absolute authority. Even in Dante's famous work Divine Comedy filled with modern spirit, God was still praised as a true,good,and kindimage.Whilein Paradise Lost,God was a typicalimage of tyranny. The poet condemned God through Satan's words. On the surface, God had given human free will; in fact, he had suppressed the true freedom.

Obviously, the poet's criticism and condemnation of God were out from the social reality of United Kingdom. The tyrant was the embodiment of Stuart. Milton laid his own political tendencies in the great Satan. He portrayed Satan's resistance as the justice resistance to authoritarian rule and a bold challenge to the violent regime.

In Paradise Lost,Lenovo was rich and metaphor wasinnovative.This was another artistic characteristic of Paradise Lost. This was mainly reflected in the psychological description of Adam and Eve when they were driven out after eating the forbidden fruit. The story of Adam and Evein Bible was just a few words andvery specific.There was no document about their life andinner feelings.Butin Paradise Lost,the story was writtenvivid,flesh and colorful.In Milton'simagination and description, the worldly things seemed to have feelings and emotions.

Milton had made the most powerful cry for freedom and equality. He attempted to suggest that the heaven paradise had lost, but the earth paradise would begin. The poet's unique writing style created a new poetry generation.This was also the mostimportant contribution of Paradise Lost to British literary language

In short,Paradise Lost combined the political,ideological,religious,artistic elements,and achieved the perfect unity of arts. This epic gives use a wonderful art pleasure.

中文译文

失乐园

他以邪恶的眼神望向四周

只看到巨大的痛苦和沮丧

混合着冷酷的骄傲和笃实的憎恨

旋以天使之眼看到

荒芜凄惨的境遇

四周皆是恐怖的地牢

如巨大的洪炉，那火焰之中

没有光，只有看得见的黑暗

只为让你看见悲哀的景象

悲痛的领域，阴沉的影子，

永无和平与休息，人人都有的希望在这里

永不来临，只有无穷的折磨

仍在以燃烧不尽的硫黄，

持续那烈火的狂潮

这样的地方是永恒的正义

为反叛者所准备，这里注定是他们的监狱

在绝对的黑暗中，他们的身体

被置于离神和天堂的光明的玄远之地

三倍于天堂的中心到最远支柱的距离

与他们坠落的地方多么的不同

那和他一起坠落的，是无法抗拒的

有如洪水旋风般的狂暴的火焰

他很快辨认出，在他之旁

和他一样具有权力和罪行的

那以后很久才在巴勒斯坦被名以

别卜西以及他们头号敌人的

当时在天堂被称作撒旦的，

以大胆言辞打破恐怖的沉默的魔王

 

Sonnet

 

On His Blindness

When I consider how my light is spent,

Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve there with my Maker, and present

My true account, lest he returning chide,

“Doth God exact day labor, light denied? ”

I fondly ask; but Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies:“God doth not need”

Either man's work or his own gifts; who best；

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed

They also serve who only stan

中文译文

十四行诗

我想到，在这黑暗的茫茫世界上

人生尚未过半，就耗尽英光

想到，我这点小财（才）埋起来就等于死亡

可它却在我这闲置荒废，虽然我的灵魂

多么想用它为造物主服务，并悉数供奉

我全部的财富，以免遭他的责骂，

于此，我不禁傻问：“上帝不给光明却要人白日劳作？”

“忍耐”为阻止我喃喃地抱怨，

立刻过来答道：“上帝不要求”

人的劳作，也不要你还他礼物；只要你

能忍受一点点痛苦，架起他的车辕，就是最好的侍奉。上帝

就像是一位国王，臣民千计，都听他调遣，他们努力奉献

不停地奔波忙碌于沧海桑田。

坚定不移地站立和等待也是侍奉。

 

References

 

[1] 苏煜．英国诗歌赏析[C]．北京：新华出版社，2006.