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Thesis Statement- This paper presents Milton’s trip to Italy and his book Paradise Lost. The paper will highlight Milton’s evocations of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the fall and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Finally, the paper will highlight the similarities between Milton’s re-creation and the art pieces, which represent Adam and Eve and the events. Finally, the paper will indicate the images, which were close to Milton’s imagination. The scenario presented by the idea of paradise lost highlights Milton's attempt to understand the story.
During his trip to Italy, Milton saw many works of art that stirred his imagination in their interpretation of the story of humanity according to Genesis. The two Medici tapestries, Veronese’s creation of Eve, Masaccio’s The Expulsion, Cranach’s Adam and Eve, and Durer’s The Fall and the widely speculated samples of those renaissance works of art. Concrete documentation of the exact pieces that he saw can hardly be established. However, the imagery in the identified works is convincingly and consistently accurate of the examples of the inspiration that steered him to write Paradise Lost (Loscocco, 5).
In his writing, Milton seeks to conform to the writing standards set by centuries of poetic traditions. He chose to use the epic genre used by writers such as Dante and Ariosto who were prolific writers of the Renaissance and Medieval eras. In so doing, Milton’s Paradise Lost has the various aspects that constituted the traditional epic themes of war, origin (especially with regard to the interaction between the heavenly and earthly beings), empire, and nationalism. In this way, he inexplicably raised the expectations of his readers by placing himself among the greats of that era (Loscocco, 5).
Unlike other literary works of the time, Paradise Lost does not have an outstanding hero. The various characters that have been portrayed as heroic include Adam, Satan, and the Son of God. In the poem, the Son of God is an important character, but then again the story is not about him (Poetry Season-Paradise Lost Extract). The character that is Adam eventually questions the traditional perception of heroism because unlike other heroes such as Aeneas, Adam is seen to be disobedient which is quite different from the heroic martyrdom that had been expected of epic heroism. This leaves Satan whom Milton portrays as having the hero like qualities.
Paradise Lost though widely accepted to be of the epic genre, also has elements of lyric poetry, tragedy, and even samples of georgic verses. In his attempt to capture man’s life in paradise, his relationship with God and his uneventful fall from grace; he employs forms of tragedy such as soliloquy both for its therapeutic and affective effects (Paradise Lost). He depicts God as an omnipresent divine being that humans can relate to yet still maintains his aura of mystery. Milton attempts to make the reader understand that it is in Gods nature to be of sovereignty and justice and wrath yet one who can also interact with humanity as an individual who speaks and whose Son sits on His right hand side, he attempts to "justify the ways of God to men"(Poetry Season-Paradise Lost Extract).
The understanding of Gods’ nature is, thus twofold. On one hand, Satans’ question over the Son of God’s ascension to power because he also wants a share in the rule of man, the allure of power and the evident doubt on Gods’ authority. Therefore, of his own accord, Satan rebels against God and rejects repentance (Milton Reading Room). It requires submissiveness, but he is tempted by power, thus tries to seduce others to follow his path. Adam chooses Eve over God through the action of eating the apple. "How can I live without thee, how forgoe / Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joyn'd (PL 9.908-9)”. In so doing, he chose love and death over God. Milton’s imagination reveals that human love (in this case Adam’s love for Eve) overcame human obedience to the creator. Adam sins out of love and perhaps lust, while Eve sins in an attempt to match up to Adam’s knowledge. She was tempted by ignorance and the belief that she would be an equal to Adam’s intellect.
It is important to note that though Adam finds Eve to blame for their predicament, he does not seek another companion, "Should God create another Eve, and I/ Another Rib afford yet loss of thee/Would never from my heart and from thy State/Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe" (PL 9.911-16). “Lust, however, negates the pure devotion he once had for her, and this is the flaw that has proven most destructive in humanity’s attempt to reconnect with God. “That false Fruit, Carnal desire enflaming" (PL 9.1011-13)”.
With regard to salvation, the Son of God like previous classical heroes is seen to be both glorious and vulnerable. He is portrayed as a majestic figure with military prowess, goodness, a political leader, Godly, as would any classical hero but with a hint of martyrdom in that he is promised to suffer just like the biblical reference to Christ (Milton Reading Room). Milton uses Paradise Lost to show the reader what has been over time considered the new Christian heroism, the story of perseverance in time of great personal struggle for the greater good of all humanity.
In his description of the Son, Milton created cause for concern by referring to His creation as that which occurred in that present time thus inadvertently threatened the Christian perception of the Holy Trinity. “The Son of his own accord obeys the Father; "Father Eternal, thine is to decree, / Mine both in Heav'n and Earth to do thy will/ Supreme" (PL 10.68-70)”. “And the Father finds favor in His Son so much so that the Son sits on the right of His Father as seen in the text”. "Into thee such Virtue and Grace/Immense I have transfus’dtransfused that all may know / In Heav'n and Hell thy Power above compare" (PL 6.703-5).
In the book, angel Raphael tries to help Adam understand that not all knowledge contributes to the understanding of God and one’s self. In the painting, Eve’s greed to have the same level of knowledge as Adam clouds her judgment, thus she ignores the consequences of her actions (Milton, 30). Despite realizing the error she has made, she still invites Adam to partake of the fruit. Adam is blinded by his devotion to Eve and chooses to eat the fruit, and in a way, he ignores God’s warning. Milton understanding of human relations of marriage and friendship is based on the need for companionship that overpowers his devotion to God (Paradise Lost: The Poem).
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Works Cited
Loscocco, Paula. "Milton and Gender. (Book review)." Renaissance Quarterly 22 Mar. 2006: 66. Print.
"Milton Reading Room."Milton: Paradise Lost. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/>.
Milton, John. Paradise lost. Gotha: Steudel, 1805. Print.
"Paradise Lost." Literature.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. <http://www.literature.org/authors/milton-john/paradise-lost/chapter-01.html>.
"Paradise Lost: The Poem." Paradise Lost: The Poem. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://www.paradiselost.org/>.
"Poetry Season-Paradise Lost Extract." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/poems/paradise_lost_extract.shtml>.
