Mammon’s Speech Discussion
Book II of Paradise Lost features the counsel of fallen angels all summoned by Satan to agree on the further action to be taken. As Satan’s ultimate goal is to wipe Heaven out, he would not stop the war half way through, as the sweet moment of grasping limitless power seems to be just a few steps away. Therefore, he needs to persuade other devils to unite their efforts and attack Heaven with no hesitation, as this is the one and only chance for them to defeat God. To get the most of support from each devil, Satan pretends to make the whole discussion equal and gives a chance to each of four devils to speak up their mind. Apparently, he believes that they together would arrive at the decision to continue ferocious combat.
As Moloch and Belial took their time to articulate their stances, Mammon stood up to give his opinion on the action to be implemented. He agrees with neither of them, since an immediate attack suggested by Moloch would be impossible because of their weakness, and Belial’s senseless talk gives no practical advice at all. Mammon, in his turn, states that it is high time that they should establish the kingdom of their own. Fallen angels would not turn their faces to God again, as hatred has soaked them all through. Therefore, they should learn to be dependent on themselves and work things out with each other’s help. Mammon hopes that with time the kingdom of Hell would grow stronger and be able to conquer Heaven.
The stance taken by Mammon is especially interesting because it represents cowardice as an inherent aspect of evil. Mammon realizes that waging war is a fruitless endeavor, since it jeopardizes him with losing everything he has got. He wants to preserve his power and tries to convince everybody that they should be satisfied with current circumstances, giving some positive predictions about the future of the kingdom of Hell. This way of thinking indicates, firstly, greedy satisfaction with what you have and, secondly, fear of losing what you have when exposed to peril and being left in the lurch when danger is gone. Mammon’s ideas represent a person who selfishly cares about his own well-being and uses given circumstances for personal benefit. To some extent, he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, since his true intentions are hidden behind the mask of artificial sincerity and concern. In the end, such a person would exploit others to please his ambitions, disregarding the words he had previously sworn.
Mammon’s advice on the counsel is most explicitly illustrated in lines 249-254: “Let us not then pursue / By force impossible, by leave obtain’d / Unacceptable, though in Heaven, our state / Of splendid vassalage, but rather seek / Our own good from ourselves, and from our own / Live to our selves ()”. My own interpretation of these lines is as follows: we shouldn’t seek the power that we do not possess and strive for things that we cannot obtain. Although the conditions we had in Heaven were favorable enough, from now on our life depends on what we do for it and each other.
The attempt to persuade devils to initiate the kingdom of Hell is read in lines 257-262 of Mammon’s speech: “Our greatness will appeer / Then most conspicuous, when great things of small, / Useful or hurtful, prosperous of adverse / We can create, and in what place so e’re / Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain / Through labour and indurance”. My version of these words is the following: the power we want to acquire will come to us when we learn to survive the worst oppression and make the most of our smallest merits. We all have to work very hard, put up with agonizing pain and keep going no matter what it takes. Only through gaining firmness and developing persistence we will finally establish our own rule.
Beyond any doubt, Paradise Lost is one of the most outstanding books in the history of world literature. It explains us the fundamentals and essence of world order. It teaches us that the power of God Almighty is never to be overthrown and God is the only one to confide in.
