PARADISE LOST BOOK-I IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

PARADISE LOST BOOK-I IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
What is the theme of Paradise Lost Book-I ?
The Exordium[lines1-26] of Milton's famous epic Paradise Lost states the subject/theme of the whole poem:'Man's first disobedience' and the consequent fall of man from heaven--the Biblical story of 'Adam Unparadised'.
But Book I of Milton's poem deals with the story of another fall: the fall of Lucifer/Satan and his followers[rebel angels] from heaven into the bottomless pit of hell to suffer endless perdition.The brightest of angels, proud & ambitious, disobeyed the Almighty and waged 'an impious war' in heaven. He suffered from 'a sense of injured merit' and misled a large number of angels to a regicide. Satan and all his followers were struck with thunderbolt, and they were 'hurled headlong flaming' into the dark & fiery pit of hell. The narrative begins with their fall, with Satan regaining his consciousness to discover himself confined in a 'dungeon horrible'. As Satan further discovers his second-in-command, Beelzebub, still lying unconscious close to him, he addresses Beelzebub to begin the process of remobilising his forces for a new offensive. Book I contains five speeches of Satan addressed to Beelzebub and the other followers lying defeated and scattered all over the burning pool in hell. We have Beelzebub's reply followed by Satan's self-disentanglement from the waves of the fiery gulf and flight to the solid land ashore. Then the fallen angels return to consciousness, re-assemble, and march in battle order in response to the call of their leader. Then Satan's architectural brigade builds 'Pandemonium' in hell where the new king of hell sits with his compatriots in 'a secret conclave' to work out the new mischief: to tempt the loved creatures of God--Adam & Eve--to disobedience and fall.

Milton's Failure to Justify the Ways of God to Man

Some critics believe that the poet instead justifies the ways of Satan to men, he has not justified the ways of god on the poetic level. Milton has tried to do so through arguments which are unconvincing.
Moreover, the punishment given to Adam and Eve is out of proportion to their sin of disobedience. Hanford points out that "the justification of divine ways lies in the representation of Adam as a free agent and in the revelation of the working of God's Grace which allows to him and his descendants the opportunity for a new exercise of moral choice and of consequent salvation even after the Fall... The poet has gone out of his way again and again to insist on the fact of Adam's freedom…..Neither personally nor as a part of the system did the idea greatly move or interest him.
Who is the Hero of “Paradise Lost” Book-I
Probably the most famous quote about Paradise Lost is William Blake's statement that Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." While Blake may have meant something other than what is generally understood from this quotation (see "Milton's Style" in the Critical Essays), the idea that Satan is the hero, or at least a type of hero, in Paradise Lost is widespread. However, the progression, or, more precisely, regression, of Satan's character from Book I through Book X gives a much different and much clearer picture of Milton's attitude toward Satan.
Writers and critics of the Romantic era advanced the notion that Satan was a Promethean hero, pitting himself against an unjust God. Most of these writers based their ideas on the picture of Satan in the first two books of Paradise Lost. In those books, Satan rises off the lake of fire and delivers his heroic speech still challenging God. Satan tells the other rebels that they can make "a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (I, 255) and adds, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n" (I, 263). Satan also calls for and leads the grand council. Finally, he goes forth on his own to cross Chaos and find Earth. Without question, this picture of Satan makes him heroic in his initial introduction to the reader.
Besides his actions, Satan also appears heroic because the first two books focus on Hell and the fallen angels. The reader's introduction to the poem is through Satan's point of view. Milton, by beginning in medias res gives Satan the first scene in the poem, a fact that makes Satan the first empathetic character. Also, Milton's writing in these books, and his characterization of Satan, make the archfiend understandable and unforgettable.
These facts certainly make Satan the most interesting character in the poem — but they do not make him the hero. Because the reader hears Satan's version first, the reader is unaware of the exaggerations and outright lies that are parts of Satan's magnificent speeches. Moreover, the reader can easily overlook the fact that Milton states that, whatever powers and abilities the fallen angels have in Hell, those powers and abilities come from God, who could at any moment take them away.
In essence then, Milton's grand poetic style sets Satan up as heroic in Books I and II. The presentation of Satan makes him seem greater than he actually is and initially draws the reader to Satan's viewpoint. Further, because all of the other characters in the poem — Adam, Eve, God, the Son, the angels — are essentially types rather than characters, Milton spends more artistic energy on the development of Satan so that throughout the poem, Satan's character maintains the reader's interest and, perhaps, sympathy — at least to an extent.
No matter how brilliantly Milton created the character of Satan, the chief demon cannot be the hero of the poem. For Milton, Satan is the enemy who chooses to commit an act that goes against the basic laws of God, that challenges the very nature of the universe. Satan attempts to destroy the hierarchy of Heaven through his rebellion. Satan commits this act not because of the tyranny of God but because he wants what he wants rather than what God wants. Satan is an egoist. His interests always turn on his personal desires. Unlike Adam, who discusses a multiplicity of subjects with Raphael, rarely mentioning his own desires, Satan sees everything in terms of what will happen to him. A true Promethean / Romantic hero has to rebel against an unjust tyranny in an attempt to right a wrong or help someone less fortunate. If Satan had been Prometheus, he would have stolen fire to warm himself, not to help Mankind.
Milton shows his own attitude toward Satan in the way the character degenerates or is degraded in the progression of the poem. Satan is magnificent, even admirable in Books I and II. By book IV, he is changed. In his soliloquy that starts Book IV, Satan declares that Hell is wherever he himself is. Away form his followers and allowed some introspection, Satan already reveals a more conflicted character.
Similarly, Satan's motives change as the story advances. At first, Satan wishes to continue the fight for freedom from God. Later his motive for continuing the fight becomes glory and renown. Next, the temptation of Adam and Eve is simply a way to disrupt God's plans. And, at the end, Satan seems to say that he has acted as he has to impress the other demons in Hell. This regression of motives shows quite a fall.
Satan also regresses or degenerates physically. Satan shifts shapes throughout the poem. These changes visually represent the degeneration of his character. First, he takes the form of a lesser angel, a cherub, when he speaks to Uriel. Next, he is a ravening cormorant in the tree of life — an animal but able to fly. Then he is a lion and a tiger — earth-bound beasts of prey, but magnificent. Finally, he is a toad and a snake. He becomes reptilian and disgusting. These shape changes graphically reveal how Satan's actions change him.
Even in his own shape, Satan degenerates. When Gabriel confronts Satan in Book V, none of the angels initially recognize Satan because his appearance is noticeably changed. Likewise, in Book X, when Satan once again sits on his throne in Hell, none of the earlier magnificence of his physical appearance is left. Now he looks like a drunken debauchee.
Though Satan is not heroic in Paradise Lost, he at times does border on tragedy. Ironically, he also borders on comedy. The comic element associated with Satan derives from the absurdity of his position. As a rebel, he challenges an omnipotent foe, God, with power that is granted him by his foe. God simply toys with Satan in battle. Satan is, in fact, cartoonish when he and Belial gloat over the success of their infernal cannon in Book VI. Satan and Belial stand laughing at the disorder they have caused, but they are unaware of the mountains and boulders just about to land on their heads.
If all of Paradise Lost were on the level of the battle scene, the poem would be comic. But Satan's temptation of Adam and Eve moves the demon closer to tragedy. Satan's motives in destroying the human couple may be arguable, but the effect and its implications are not. Satan brings the humans down and causes their removal from Eden. In so doing, he also provides the way to salvation for those humans who choose freely to obey God. However, Satan provides nothing for himself. Hell is where Satan is because he has no way to rejoin God. Unlike humanity, Satan and the other fallen angels have already sealed their fates. They live always with the knowledge of Hell.
In the end, Satan calls to mind the Macbeth of Shakespeare. Both characters are magnificent creations of evil. Both are heroic after a fashion, but both are doomed. Both are fatalistic about the afterlife. Satan knows that he must remain in Hell; Macbeth says that he would "jump the life to come," if he could kill Duncan with no consequence on Earth. Both characters are the driving force in their own works. And finally both create a kind of Hell; Macbeth's on Earth, Satan's in the universe.

Milton Justifies the “Ways of God to Men” in Paradise Lost
The Puritan Revolution triggered an avalanche of popular Calvinist writers to comment against the political and religious system that prevailed prior to the revolution. Calvinists rejected the tyrannical reign, justifying the removal and eventual execution of the monarch, and called for more robust protections of the people’s rights and highlighted the necessity of a purified religion. John Milton in ‘Paradise Lost’ expounds his disappointment over the Puritan Revolution and the misuse of God’s divine providence by tyrants:  literary Charles the first and metaphorically Satan. Consequently Milton sets himself “to justify the ways of God to man” (I: 26) by portraying Satan’s sufferings and Adam’s and Eve’s banishment for trespassing and disobeying God. Milton rationalizes the penalties for pure evilness and redemption given for true repentance. Book of Genesis itself justifies the “ways of God” or His plan of redemption, that one day through the “Seed” of the Woman, the head of the serpent would be crushed (Satan), even though the Serpent would wound the heel of the coming “Seed of the Woman”( Genesis III: 1-24).
Milton’s depiction of the concept of free will performs a major role in understanding the justification of the “ways of God to men”. The free will of man causes his own down fall. Man was given free will by God, not to use unwisely or either against God’s wish. God mentions that man is “sufficient to have stood though free to fall” (III: 99). He more over states obedience or “true allegiance constant faith or love” would lead an individual to his or her damnation (III: 104). In Paradise Lost two separate groups of offenders are judged and punished, Satan and his cohorts, and Adam and Eve. The illustration of Satan in ‘Paradise Lost’ is an ideal example of a character that rises against God’s omnipotent power. He is faithless, insincere and is suffered by God’s wrath. Further, He is the first being to be corrupted by his obsession with power, which stems from his free will. He chooses to rise “against the monarchy of God at heaven” (I: 42) and is ultimately punished by the Almighty God. Satan was made to undergo all sorts of torments and “torture without end” in “penal fire” in a “horrible dungeon” in Hell due to his disobedience (I: 46-62). If Satan followed the principles instructed by God, He would have remained as an Archangel under God’s love.  Yet his primary intentions are embodiments of evil and His will of surpassing God’s power and distracting man’s mind from God, governs His mind towards destruction.
Satan is the epitome of evil who possesses all the antithetical characteristics that God rejected as sin. He is well adequate with jealousy, vengeance and deception. At the instance where Satan sees the new creation of paradise in all its glory, His jealousy comes forth. Though he was drawn to the new world He calls it “the paradise of fools” (III: 496).  He deceives the Archangel Uriel by disguising himself as a “cherub” who seemed so much enthusiastic to find out about the world that God brought out of the Chaos from earth, air, wind and fire. He makes a false confession bidding God’s forgiveness bringing himself as an “inferior angel” and reasons that heaven if he returns would deal with same “eternal woe” that he was once treated with (IV: 58-70). Accordingly Satan finds no place “left for repentance, none for pardon” (IV: 80). He fraudulently argues that he should visit hell with “infinite despair” to which he sees “the Hell he suffers a Heaven” (IV: 78). Satan justifies his action with reference to God’s fury towards him. Yet, it is evident that God’s severe punishments of Satan are due to his reluctance of true repentance of his sins. Satan’s idea of revenge and hatred drives him to commit larger immoral acts.  He, in order to get revenge from God wishes to tarnish God’s beloved creation by seduction and false flattery. Satan’s false admirations of Eve’s “celestial beauty” with false comparisons such as “a goddess among god” persuade Eve to disobey her mighty Creator. Similarly Satan’s sinful yet persuasive argument that “knowledge is good because knowing what is good and evil makes it easier to do what is good,” convinces Eve to assume that knowledge is always good.  The discussed facts support the idea that Satan is the apotheosis of evil. He doesn’t genuinely repent for his sins but commits sinful deeds. In consequence He undergoes God’s punishment of “misery” with “endless woe” (X: 726-754). The Cambridge Companion to Milton, John Carey also support the idea that the true Satan that Milton is trying to portray is purely evil, with no redeeming quality and an irrevocably skewed sense of reality. Considering the despicable demeanor of Satan, it is clear the fact, Milton justifies the “ways of god to men” or Gods punishments to people who disobey him.
However Writers and critics of the Romantic era advanced the notion that Satan was a Promethean hero, pitting himself against an unjust God. Most of these writers based their ideas on the picture of Satan in the first two books of Paradise Lost. In those books, Satan rises off the lake of fire and delivers his heroic speech challenging God. Satan declares that it is “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav’n” (I: 263). The process of moral self-determination or the driving urge towards superiority is operative in Milton’s Satan, yet this very preoccupation with self, along with the craving for dominion and the hunger for glory results his doom. Furthermore the argument that, Milton’s glorification of Satan condemning the authority of God, put the readers in to a confusion over Milton’s inclination to his religion and his political representation in the Puritan revolution. In brief one can contend that if he is not justifying the ruin of Satan, is he a true Puritan, as Puritans more than any Christian sects believed in God.  Therefore in ‘Paradise Lost’ Milton “justifies the ways of God to men” and supports the way in which Satan was treated by the Almighty.
Milton justifies God’s action of punishment at evil and redemption to true repentance. God’s wrath is directed towards Satan whereas God’s forgiveness is revealed in Adam’s and Eve’s repentance. Man’s free will marks a greater possibility of disobeying God, and thus falling. Man is created perfect; “just and right” (I: 98) and his choice of good or of evil has the cosmic significance. Therefore Milton mentions that the only way that leads to man’s fall is his disobedience. The crucial moment of disobedience of human kind to God is Eve’s eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. One of her first thoughts is that the fruit “may render me (her) more equal” (IX: 823) to which she quickly adds, “for inferior who is free” (IX: 826). Her reasoning, from Milton’s point of view, is irrational as Milton himself sees freedom precisely coming from recognizing one’s place in the grand scheme of obeying God. Eve, by disobeying God, gains neither equality nor freedom, instead loses Paradise and brings sin and death into the world.
Adam and Eve receive the penalties for their disobedience. God banishes “the sinful pair” from the paradise and introduces death, sin, labor and pains to the world. He bids his angles “to turn askance twice ten degrees and more from the sun’s axel” so that the whole human kind will suffer “the cold and heat scarce tolerable” for violating God’s divine rules (X: 653-670). The females were made to suffer intolerable pains during the childbirth and men were to toil hard in the fields “with sweat to eat bread” (X: 205). Moreover  introduces death, sin, labor and pains to the world. Unlike Satan, Adam and Eve realize the gravity of their actions and repent genuinely and ask for forgiveness. Adam prays in “high decree’s so that their repentance be “louder heard” that God’s “frailty and infirmer sex be forgiven” (X: 954-956). They “humbly confess” their faults and “beg pardon” with tears” watering the ground” where they finally are pardoned for their sins. The redemption of mankind is set through a good and moral life which they may be reunited with God after their death. The redemption of man is “Death’s rapacious claim” (X: 259) and it is the duty of human kind to live a better life adhering to Gods moral discipline.
In conclusion, Milton as a follower of Puritanism justifies Almighty and “His ways to men”. Following his declaration of reasoning God’s ways to man Milton displays his position in the English revolution. Milton, who represented the Calvinists, rebelled against the tyrant who misused the divine power of the God and the king undergoes the consequences of God’s wrath with his life. Similarly Satan, Adam and Eve pay off for their disobedience to God. God justly punishes the sinful humans and evil Satan. Adam and Eve accept their misbehavior and they were forgiven for their true repentance whereas Satan continues his expedition of outweighing God’s power. In consequence Satan experiences the utter miseries in the world. Considering the aforementioned facts it is visible that Milton has successfully achieved his aim of “justifying the ways of God to man” in ‘Paradise Lost’.