It was finally completed in 12 books in 1674, but Paradise Lost is no Magnus opus. It is merely a poem. Written by John Milton, it is often called an epic and there is merit to that classification. There has been more than an ample scholarly discussion of Milton’s purposes and/or themes, especially on the role of Satan and the lack of God in his work; but the poet’s true aim that he stated forthwith was to justify the ways of God to men. So while academics dispute that that presence (the presence of God) is lacking in this classic work of literature, that is certainly not the case. God’s presence is clearly delineated throughout each line of the poem.
The work opens with Satan’s fall from grace and a depiction of how he rallies his troops or in reality, other angels that have selected to follow their own path instead of God’s. Satan’s goal is to attract God’s followers to join his side towards the route to corruption. Satan is so intent on accomplishing his task that he maneuvers through Chaos and essentially takes his lumps before eventually placing himself in the Garden of Eden to lead the newly created Adam and Eve astray. The newly crowned Lord of the disgraced became successful in leading the freshly minted couple into sin, but God still has a thing or two to say about Satan’s continued war on his intentions. Rather than scrapping his plan for mankind, God allowed them to be saved and by doing so, He essentially thwarted Satan’s subterfuge. Although He is not a main character according to how the play is written, God was always present even if his presence was not precisely acknowledged.
Much has been made and said about Satan being the main character of the play or about Milton’s intention to glorify him. Again, those were certainly not the case. God was not expressly referenced or given homage in this work but He spoke through Milton. His words were the presence the God and what he was attempting to impart were his view of God’s reasoning, methods and thoughts. The genius of the poem lies in how he describes Satan and builds him into a character people can actually identify. In a sense, he made Satan, the source of all evil, human which is truly a ruse as he developed the Lord of Darkness as a foil to all the goodness of God. What better tool could Milton utilize to express what is divine other than creating the antithesis of what he is describing? The answer is none. That method lands the most powerful punch.
Throughout the first two books, Milton was entirely content to describe the characteristics of Hell and Chaos. Brutal and Unfriendly are two terms that do not even lend a touch of color to the poet’s creation, but Milton’s task was to explain to his readers that while God might not present himself as an entity surrounded by light and goodness, mankind must examine Satan and the Lord himself to determine what path each individual will follow. Whether it be the road to Heaven or Hell, that is truly a choice that every person has to make for himself after carefully examining what their options are.
Also, Milton did not depict God using the image of Father or Time, but rather using the image of a benign, friendly figure that someone would seek for comfort. His version was more akin to tough love. God created humans and this world out of kindness, but is not necessarily ready to endow mankind with all his good graces. His favor must be earned and not curried randomly or through false pretenses. The Lord’s indulgence will only be bestowed upon people who are worthy of His attention. In fact, the angel Raphael who was sent to warn Adam and Eve of Satan’s malevolent intentions tells the man “Be strong, live happy, and love, but first of all Him whom to love is to obey, and keep His great command" (633-635).
What Milton was espousing is free will. Essentially people must survey their options, in this case Satan or Lucifer and God. Whether they fall exactly like Satan chose to after being God’s most prolific angel depends on making a decision, conscious or not, on which path to follow. Following the path of the Lord might not seem like the easiest thing to do and may be fraught with peril, turmoil and result in tremendous fatigue, but usually simple does not equate to best. Nothing is gained if nothing is ventured and or sacrificed; and God’s rules and punishments are clearly outlined. The choice, however, is always up to the individual. Their selection is always of their own accord.
While many critics discuss Satan as a hero of this poem, that is not the case. God is always present in Paradise Lost and His voice must have been heard through Milton. The poet may glorify Lucifer in a sense, but that is only a procedure employed to illustrate the true meaning of God’s ways and why they should be followed. His name may not be spoken anywhere near the extent of Satan’s but God is truly present in every line of this poem.
The point I am trying to make here is that even if God was not mentioned a lot of times in John Milton’s work Paradise Lost when compared to the number of times Satan was mentioned, that does not necessarily mean that Milton was trying to uplift Satan as the hero and God as the villain. It is without a doubt that the Paradise Lost can be interpreted in a lot of ways. For me, I see Satan’s struggles and hardships in overcoming his own doubts about himself, his weaknesses, and about his goal of corrupting mankind as the author’s way of showing to the readers how lost this character is, even though he evidently was the main character in the story, or even the protagonist if you will. Being a protagonist in a literary work does not automatically make Satan a good character in real life. In my opinion the author intentionally wrote the book this way to make the readers more fascinated about Satan because he knows that his corrupted, subtle, and complex character is nothing compared to other characters in the story. This, I think, is also the reason why God was not given a larger role in the story—His character would simply overshadow that of Satan and the dynamics and the readers’ fascination about Satan would all crumble. All of these go with my main argument that God is only technically absent but practically present in Paradise Lost, at least based on how I interpret it.
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Works Cited
Milton, John. Paradise Lost: A Poem in Twelve Books. The Author John Milton (1746). London.
