Paradise_Lost

[[image:paradise_lost.jpg width="406" height="308" align="right"]]John Milton's //Paradise Lost//
__Brief Summary__: After they were banished from Heaven for waging war for more power, Satan and his followers desired revenge upon G-d. Satan decides to voyage to Earth and corrupt the new creation, humankind. After failing once, Satan returns to the Garden of Eden as a serpent. He finds Eve alone and convinces her to eat a forbidden apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Upset by her own actions, Eve finds Adam. He decides that he would rather suffer the consequences along with Eve than lose her; thus, Adam eats from the tree. They are punished by G-d: all men will have to work the land for food, and all women will suffer the pain of childbirth. Adam becomes angry at their misfortune. He did not ask to be created, and he begins to blame Eve and women in general. Eve suggests suicide, but Adam convinces her that it would be best if they react by praying. Before leaving the Garden, Adam is shown that, although humans will consider to sin and suffer death, there is some hope for the future. [4] media type="youtube" key="H-itSWydxBM&rel=1" height="355" width="425"
 * Animated version of book I [7]**

John Milton wrote //Paradise Lost// between 1650 and 1660 in London, the specific years unknown. Although the years of its creation are debatable, it is certain that it was first published and sold in 1667. [6]

Before //Paradise Lost// was written, the English Civil War occured. The war began in 1642 due to tension between King Charles I and Parliament. Milton was an active anti-royalist, fighting against the monarchy. The end of the civil war brought the trial and execution of Charles I, and the monarchy was temporarily lost. Charles II (son of Charles I) began gaining support in the late 1650's, and the monarchy was restored in 1660. Milton was thrown into jail for propaganda writing against the monarchy; his political activism tainted his reputation. [1] Two other important histocal events surrounding publication were the outbreak of the plague and the Great Fire of 1666. [6]

Besides political revolutions, Milton witnessed many personal losses in the years before he wrote //Paradise Lost.// 1852 was an especially tragic year: he went blind in February, his wife died shortly after giving birth to their daughter in May, and his son passed away under “mysterious” circumstances in June. Many scholars believe Milton was blind when he wrote the majority, if not all, of his epic poem, making it even more remarkable. [2]

The reasons and influences that caused John Milton to write //Paradise Lost// are unclear, but ideas have been suggested. Milton wanted to write a great epic poem that would rival the //Iliad,// //Aeneid,// and the works of William Shakespeare//.// [6] His poem appears to have been written in response to the corruption of the English church. His epic poem was not the first time he had degraded and gone against the religious institution. He had written numerous pamphlets before //Paradise Lost// and //Regained// dealing with issues such as divorce, freedom of press, and the governing of the church by bishops. [2]

== The historical work of John Milton seems to deal with the conflict of religion vs. society. He often criticizes religion and makes society the victim throughout //Paradise Lost//, evident by his references to Adam being doomed by God. John Milton wrote many other works throughout his lifetime, including //Paradise Regained//, //Samson Agonistes//, //History of Britain//, and various other poems. [3]

Milton's //Paradise Lost// conveys several themes that are similar to Mary Shelley's //Frankenstein//. When God creates the angel Lucifer, this new creation is assumed to be inherently good just as all other angels are. However, Lucifer tries to overthrow God, resulting in his banishment from heaven, and his new identity, Satan. Satan is a character that shows qualities of envy and anger, displaying the theme that people may be born with good nature, but still have a bad side that can be revealed if triggered. In //Frankenstein//, the creature is clearly a good person in the beginning of his life, but after he learns that he has been abandoned by his creator and that everyone around him is afraid of him, his evil nature takes over and he decides to murder those close to Victor. This theme is somewhat shown through Eve's picking of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in //Paradise Lost//. She is good in nature and has always followed God's rules; when Satan tells her to pick the fruit, however, Eve decides to go against God and eats the apple. She is therefore cursed with Adam and sent away from the Garden of Eden. Again, someone with good intentions is influenced by her environment and reveals an evil side.

Another theme that is related to the previous one is the loss of innocence. Adam and Eve were living normal lives until the devil convinced Eve to eat the apple from the Tree of Knowledge. This caused Adam and Eve's "fall from grace," in which they learn that there are consequences to any broken rules. They no longer have their innocence and are cursed forever; they even contemplate killing themselves to remove their misery. The creature in //Frankenstein// loses his innocence when he realizes that there is something wrong with him, causing people to hurt him. He realizes that he is somehow cursed with unattractiveness and that he has no friends for company. = = = = = =

//Frankenstein//
//"It moved every feeling of wonder and awe that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting. I often referred the several situations, as their similarity struck me, to my own. Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the special care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature: but I was wretched, helpless and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me"// (Shelley 171). [5]
 * The creature says this quote after he reads the books (one of them being //Paradise Lost//) that he found by the De Lacey's cottage.
 * Like Adam in //Paradise Lost//, the creature feels somewhat bitter towards God because he never asked to be created. Adam is punished for his sins in the Garden of Eden; since he never asked to be created, he feels it is unfair that he must go through such punishment. This is similar to the creature because Victor created him and left him on his own to feel pain and discover hate in the world, when the creature never asked for any of it to begin with.
 * While the creature is like Adam, he has no Eve; he, therefore, recognizes another side of himself: the devil. When Satan is banished from heaven after trying to overthrow God, he is characterized as evil, jealous, bitter, envious etc. The creature also feels these things as he watches the De Laceys love one another, yet he had no one. He is also angry at Victor (his own creator/"God") for creating him but giving him nothing, causing pain and misfortune. Because of the creature's anger towards Victor, he reacts with revenge and kills the people Victor loves, similar to Satan doing things to get God back for banishing him.



//"When I run over the frightful catalogue of my sins, I cannot believe that I am the same creature whose thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness. But it is even so; the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone"// (Shelley 301). [5]
 * This quote is said by the creature as he talks to Walton after killing Victor.
 * What the creature says here directly relates back to Satan being banished from heaven in //Paradise Lost//. Like Satan, the creature is created with the idea of goodness and hope but has a "fall from grace" into a life of evil and destruction. Falling into a life of evil, both Satan and the creature vow revenge against their creators by destroying those that they "hold most dear" (Minick 2007).
 * While the creature relates to Satan, there is one thing about the two that is significantly different. Satan had followers that helped him and kept him from being alone, while the creature never has anyone to share his pain with. Even when he asks Victor for a "partner," his own creator denies him the one thing that would keep him from being completely alone in this world.

"//It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?"// (Shelley 66). [5]
 * Victor says this quote after the creature comes to life.
 * Victor, as a creator of this new life, is comparable to God, who created Satan in //Paradise Lost//. This quote is reminiscent of how disturbed God is as a result of his creation of Satan, after realizing Satan's bad character. As the creature comes to life, Victor begins to realize the horrible mistake he has made. He refers to the creature as a "catastrophe" and a "wretch," similar to the feelings that God has toward Satan after his creation.
 * Just like God banishes Satan from heaven, Victor will soon run away from the creature, somewhat banishing him from his presence. This shows how the creature can be compared to Satan, in that both creators banished their creations; both creations now have a motive to kill those who the creators love.
 * The situation in this quote is also somewhat similar to God's creation of Adam in //Paradise Lost//. Because Victor is so disgusted by his creation, he leaves it to live on its own in this unknown world. The creature is now cursed in that there is no way for him to assimilate to this new world, just like Adam is cursed by God in the poem.

//"In a fit of enthusiastic madness I created a rational creature, and was bound towards him, to assure, as far as was in my power, his happiness and well being. This was my duty; but there was another still paramount to that. My duties towards the beings of my own species had greater claims to my attention, because they included a greater proportion of happiness or misery. Urged by this view, I refused, and I did right in refusing, to create a companion for the first creature"// (Shelley 295). [5]


 * This is an excerpt from Victor's last words to Walton before he dies.
 * The beginning of the quote describes the exact duty that God has toward Satan in the beginning of //Paradise Lost//. As creators of these beings, God and Victor both must ensure the best lives possible. Victor to the creature, just like God to Satan, conveys a father-son relationship, which should result in the father raising the son to live a good and happy life. The creature and Satan, however, pose threats to the rest of society; therefore, Victor and God must do what they can to stop matters from getting worse and protect others. While God banishes Satan, Victor refuses to make another creature, in order to prevent further trouble.

= =

= =

//Paradise Lost// 'Creeps' Into //Frankenstein//
//"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me Man? did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?"// (Milton 743-745) [4]
 * This quote directly relates to the creature. After Adam is cursed as a result of his and Eve's acts in the the Garden of Eden, he feels resentment towards God. Adam feels that he never asked to be created or to have the chance to commit this sin and appears to think that it is all unfair because he never asked God to create him into this man.
 * Like Adam, the creature appears angry at his creator. The creature feels unloved and does evil things to the loved ones of his creator, Victor, because he is so bitter towards his creator. He feels as that his 'sentence' among humans is completely unfair because he never chose to be created by Victor, but was created anyway. He seems to feel that the bad things that came out of his creation were the faults of Victor because Victor chose to make him and chose to leave him behind without affection and care.

[[image:fig19.jpg width="238" height="447" align="right"]]
//"As argument of weakness, not of power. Will he draw out,// //For anger's sake, finite to infinite, In punished Man, to satisfy his rigour, Satisfied never? That were to extend His sentence beyond dust and Nature's law; By which all causes else, according still To the reception of their matter, act; Not to the extent of their own sphere. But say////That death be not one stroke, as I supposed, Bereaving sense, but endless misery From this day onward; Which I feel begunBoth in me, and without me"// (Milton 800-812) [4]
 * The first sentence in this quote is similar to the fact that it is Victor's weakness, not power, that caused him to leave the creature behind and not save his family. Also, his personal weakness led him to be selfish enough to ignore all signs of Elizabeth's death and not realize that if he would have just trusted the creature's word and created a female for him, it may have been the better thing to do. His personal weakness overall leads him to his death because revenge destroys him.
 * When the quote refers to infinite anger, the creature and Victor display this perfectly. The creature and Victor have endless hatred for each other, and seem to never be satisfied no matter how far they push each other. The only way each seems to come to peace is with their deaths. The sentence referring to "beyond... Nature's Law" can be seen as the creature's curse. He was created beyond the boundaries of nature in Victor's lab and is forever imprisoned to be alone without any love.
 * The end of this quote seems to parallel Victor's feelings in //Frankenstein//. His experience with death started with the death of his mother, eventually becoming the death of his brother, best friend, wife, and father. A part of Victor dies with each murder he has to experience. Victor's misery seems endless even after he dies because the revenge and sadness that he has put up with for the final years of his life have taken over his whole entire being.